Newswise — LOS ANGELES (Oct. 17, 2014) – For the 19th straight year, Cedars-Sinai has earned a national consumer award for offering the highest quality medical care, doctors and nurses in the Los Angeles area, based on a survey of local households.
Cedars-Sinai has won a 2014-15 Consumer Choice Award from the National Research Corporation. It is the only hospital in Los Angeles County to win the award this year for best overall healthcare quality, staff and reputation.
The medical center also is one of only 35 hospitals nationwide that have won the award or shared it in their local markets every year since it was launched in 1996.
“Cedars-Sinai is pleased once again to receive this recognition for our commitment to quality,” said Thomas M. Priselac, president and chief executive officer. “The fact that we have earned this distinction so many years in a row reflects our commitment to the health of the communities we serve. At the same time, we are mindful that we must earn this distinction every day, with each patient we serve.”
More than 290,000 households nationwide were contacted in the research corporation’s Market Insights Survey. This included more than 9,600 households in Los Angeles County. Survey respondents were asked about hospital preferences based on quality, image, reputation, physicians and nurses.
Cedars-Sinai has long worked to maintain the highest standards for its medical care and staff.
The medical center, for example, is the only hospital in California, and one of only five in the nation, to have a 30-day mortality rate better than the national average over five consecutive years for three key disease categories – heart failure, pneumonia and heart attacks -- according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Cedars-Sinai’s rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections also has been lower than the national average since 2012, when the federal government began reporting the data.
In December, Cedars-Sinai received its fourth consecutive Magnet® designation for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, becoming the hospital with the longest-running Magnet designation in California. Cedars-Sinai is one of only 12 hospitals worldwide to receive this prestigious designation four times.
“We are continually examining our practices with an eye toward improving quality,” said Michael Langberg, MD, senior vice president for Medical Affairs and chief medical officer. “We are proud of the record this effort has produced.”
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