Overland Park Regional Medical Center named one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Fortune and IBM Watson Health

Only hospital in region, state of Kansas to receive honor of excellence as a top cardiovascular hospital.

Overland Park, Kansas – Overland Park Regional Medical Center was recently named as one of the nation’s top performing cardiovascular hospitals by Fortune and IBM Watson Health. The annual Fortune/IBM 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study spotlights leading short-term, acute care, non-federal US hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. The study is designed to identify impartial, actionable, and attainable benchmarks for hospital and clinical leaders as they work to raise their own organizations’ standards of performance in cardiac care. The report highlights top-performing cardiovascular hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics and data.

Overland Park Regional Medical Center—home to the region’s most advanced electrophysiology program—is part of HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s leading healthcare provider. The hospital has strategically invested in cardiovascular services, with a new state-of-the-art cardiovascular center, including expanded electrophysiology capabilities, robotically assisted, minimally invasive procedures and the most advanced cardiac catheterization lab available. Additionally, a new air ambulance service transports critically ill patients throughout a three-state region requiring a higher level of care. 

“The IBM Watson Health Top 50 award reflects the expertise, hard work and dedication of Overland Park Regional Medical Center’s outstanding cardiovascular team,” says Overland Park Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Matt Sogard, FACHE. “We provide the region’s most comprehensive, advanced cardiovascular care, allowing patients to receive high-quality, compassionate care right where they live. And while the growth of the program and new services we’ve added are impressive, what really matters most to our team are the outstanding outcomes our cardiology patients have experienced.”

“Through the implementation of best practice and standardized cardiovascular protocols, we have found that creating efficiencies not only helps improve operations, but most importantly, potentially saves lives,” says Medical Director of HCA Midwest Health Cardiovascular Services Steven Marso, M.D., Board Certified Interventional Cardiologist. “We are pleased to receive this prestigious national recognition, which represents the high-quality care and commitment that our physicians and staff provide every day to patients during their most vulnerable times, and grateful to the patients and families who put their trust in us.”

“What makes this survey unique is that it incorporates a unique and most scientific methodology based on artificial intelligence in several quality metrics, access to advance care, research, education, provider reputation, leadership in a comprehensive way that some of the existing survey systems don’t capture,” says Medical Director of Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute at HCA Midwest Health DJ Lakkireddy, M.D., Board Certified, Fellowship trained cardiologist, specializing in electrophysiology. “Our focus on delivering most comprehensive advanced clinical care for our patients through frontier research providing access to the latest technology and a fundamental principle of putting patient first in everything we do sets us apart from everyone else around us.”

This year's study included 951 U.S. hospitals with cardiovascular service lines. Compared to similar cardiovascular hospitals, this year’s winning hospitals had better results on indicators intended to measure clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, financial performance, and patient experience. Based on the methodology used by Watson Health, the study concludes that if all United States hospitals’ cardiovascular service lines performed at the level of these study winners, some 6,400 additional lives and roughly $1.4 billion could be saved, and 5,000 additional bypass and angioplasty patients could be complication-free.

“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the hospitals recognized on the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals list are providing quality care in one of the most critical areas,” says Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals Program Leader, IBM Watson Health. “Hospitals are constantly working to improve clinical and operational performance, and the exceptional organizations on this list demonstrate the standard for top performing cardiac care. Their benchmarks serve as a real-world checkpoint for cardiovascular care across the U.S.”

Overland Park Regional Medical Center is Johnson County’s only Level II Trauma Center and has a world-class medical staff with more than 600 physicians and over 2,000 dedicated, outstanding nurses and other staff that offer high-quality, compassionate care to infants, children, teens and adults. Overland Park Regional Medical Center has a multidisciplinary team consisting of highly skilled surgeons, cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, nurses and technicians who develop the best treatment plan for every patient. The hospital is home to the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute, staffed by pioneers and leaders in electrophysiology who are influencing care at the national level. Also offered is the only robotic-assisted cardiac cath lab in the state of Kansas where some of the most complex cardiac interventions are performed.

The winning hospitals were announced in Fortune. For more information, visit https://www.ibm.com/products/50-top-cardiovascular-hospitals.

About the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Study

The Fortune/IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study uses independent and objective research to analyze cardiovascular hospital performance in clinical and operational areas addressing inpatient and 30-day mortality, patient complications, 30-day readmission, average length of stay, 30-day episode-of-care payment, and adjusted cost per case, for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and heart failure (HF) patients. The study has been conducted annually since 1998.

About IBM Watson Health

IBM Watson Health is a data, analytics, and technology partner for the health industry. Supported by the innovation of IBM and intelligence of Watson, we are committed to helping build smarter health ecosystems. Through the combination of our deep industry expertise in health, data and analytics, actionable insights, and reputation for security and trust, Watson Health is working together with its clients and partners to help them achieve simpler processes, better care insights, faster breakthroughs, and improved experiences for people around the world. Learn more on the IBM Watson Health website.