MedCentral Mansfield Hospital Cardiac Surgery Program Named Number One Program In Ohio

MedCentral Health Systems ranks #1 in Ohio for cardiac surgery, according to the 10th Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study issued October 2007. The study, the largest of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes at 5,000 hospitals in America for 2004 - 2006. MedCentral was ranked among the Top 5 percent in the nation for cardiac surgery. It was also awarded 5 star rankings for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery and Valve Replacement Surgery. This is the second year in a row that MedCentral's program was in the top 10 percent in the nation. It was also the 2nd year in a row that the program received 5 star ratings for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery and Valve Replacement Surgery.

David A. Brown, MD and Fraser M. Keith, MD named 2007 Top Surgeon

David A. Brown, MD was once again named one of America's Top Surgeons by the Consumers' Research Council of America. Fraser M. Keith, MD received this honor as well this year. This is a Washington, D.C. based research organization that provides consumers' information guides for professional services throughout America. They help educate and assist consumers in obtaining the finest professional services. The criteria used to select the top surgeons included experience, training, professional associations, and certifications.

MedCentral Mansfield Hospital Cardiac Surgery Program Earns Excellence Award From Health Grades.com

MedCentral Mansfield's Cardiac Bypass Surgery and Valve Surgery Programs were awarded the Specialty Excellence Award from HealthGrades.com for 2007. MedCentral is only one of five hospitals in all of northern and central Ohio to receive this award for both cardiac surgery and valve surgery. HealthGrades.com uses data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services based upon hospitalized Medicare patients for 2003 - 2005. Some noted measures from the report include a complication rate significantly below the national average, as well as length of stay being shorter than average.

David A. Brown, MD named 2006 Top Surgeon

David A. Brown, MD was once again named one of America's Top Surgeons by the Consumers' Research Council of America. This is a Washington, D.C. based research organization that provides consumers' information guides for professional services throughout America. They help educate and assist consumers in obtaining the finest professional services. The criteria used to select the top surgeons included experience, training, professional associations, and certifications.

Bypass Surgery better for patients than Stent placement

As reported in the Wall Street Journal on 5/26/05 and the New England Journal of Medicine on 5/26/05, researchers found that stent placement carries a significantly higher risk of death over the long-term than bypass surgery as a treatment for blocked coronary arteries. The study found that stent and angioplasty procedures are not as effective as bypass for the sickest patients. Almost 60,000 patients with serious heart disease were studied. Those with three blocked arteries who received stents were 1.56 times as likely to died within three years as those who had bypass surgery. In addition, more than one third of the patients who received stents needed either surgery or additional angioplasties with stents within three years. Only 5% of the patients who received bypass surgery needed to get either of these treatments during the same time period. 

This isn't the first study to find that bypass surgery is better and safer for patients compared to stents. Earlier research found that patients with diabetes and heart disease tended to have better survival rates with bypass surgery. Last year, researchers at The Cleveland Clinic reported in Circulation that bypass surgery had longer lasting benefits compared to angioplasty in high risk patients. The risk of death over time was more than twice as high in patients who had angioplasty.

Fraser Keith, MD to join practice

Fraser Keith, MD will be joining Midwestern Cardiac Surgery, Inc. on June 1, 2004. Dr. Keith was most recently the director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Lifelink Transplant Institute in Tampa, Florida. Prior to that he was an attending surgeon at The University of California, San Francisco for twelve years. In addition to adult cardiac surgery, Dr. Keith also specializes in non-cardiac thoracic (lung) surgery.

David A. Brown, MD Named one of America's Top Surgeons for 2005

David A. Brown, MD was named one of America's Top Surgeons by the Consumers' research Council of America. This is a Washington, D.C. based research organization that provides consumers' information guides for professional services throughout America. They help educate and assist consumers in obtaining the finest professional services. 

David A. Brown, MD Named Best Doctor for 2005

David A. Brown, MD was named one of America's Best Doctors. Dr. Brown is the medical director of MedCentral’s Cardiac Surgery Services.

The Best Doctors conducts a national survey that lists the most prestigious doctors in the country. Their website lists 31,000 physicians in the United States, which represents the top 5 percent in over 400 subspecialties of medicine. Since 1992, patients and doctors have used the Best Doctors in America list as a guide when choosing a physician.

Questionnaires are sent to doctors to determine who they would see if they had a medical problem. The survey begins with the question, “Who would you go to if you needed medical care in your specialty?” Then Best Doctors analyzes millions of evaluations and reviews as many as a 100 pertaining to a single doctor. Only those doctors rated the best by other doctors make the list. The physicians also must go through regular evaluations.

The system of review includes a method for catching and correcting bias, for or against any particular physician or group of physicians.