MountainView Hospital has again achieved a distinguished 3-star ranking, which denotes the highest category of quality, for its Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) program for its patient care and positive quality outcomes.
The 3-star ranking comes from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American College of Cardiology, for the time period ending Sept. 2022. This is the second consecutive 3-star rating that MountainView Hospital has received for its TAVR program. This ranking places MountainView Hospital among the elite for TAVR heart care in the United States and Canada. There are only 22 3-star programs in the country, out of 830 programs.
“MountainView Hospital takes great pride in the high-quality care we provide that has resulted in long-term positive results,” said Hiral Patel, MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud of our capabilities to serve this community with the most advanced technology and outstanding clinical teams.”
The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures.
“We are excited to again be recognized among the top TAVR hospitals in the country. We continuously strive to stay on the leading front of quality and innovation to ensure the best possible outcomes, even for the most complex patients,” said Dr. Jeffrey Levisman, MountainView Hospital Chair of Cardiovascular.
“MountainView Hospital has built an excellent multidisciplinary team that excels in clinical outcomes,” said Dr. Deepak Malhotra, MountainView cardiovascular surgeon. “Together we strive to bring the best patient care to our patients.”
Severe aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that does not allow normal blood flow. In elderly patients, severe aortic stenosis is sometimes caused by the build-up of calcium on the aortic valve’s leaflets. Over time the leaflets become stiff, reducing their ability to fully open and close. When the leaflets don’t fully open, the heart must work harder to push blood through the aortic valve to the body.
TAVR provides a unique option for patients to have a valve replacement without open heart surgery. It has become the primary approach to replace the valve for most patients with aortic valve stenosis.
This less invasive procedure allows a new valve to be inserted within the diseased aortic valve while the heart is still beating. Once the new replacement valve is expanded, it pushes the old valve out of the way and the replacement valve functions to regulate proper blood flow.