Healthgrades Awards UAMS Five Stars for Cardiac, Critical Care
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received five-star ratings for its treatment of heart failure and sepsis from Healthgrades, the leading resource used by consumers to find a health care provider.
The 2025 ratings for clinical excellence are based on data collected from about 4,500 hospitals nationwide on all Medicare patients who used hospital in-patient services in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Paul Mounsey, M.D., professor and chair of the UAMS Division of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine, said he appreciated the recognition — for the second consecutive year — of UAMS’ treatment of heart failure.
“As the only academic medical center in Arkansas, we are able to combine the expertise of various disciplines to provide holistic care for our patients,” Mounsey said. “As a research institution, we have access to emerging technologies that boost our ability to provide the very best care available. This unique combination of skill and cutting-edge resources offers advantages for our patients that often aren’t available anywhere else in the state.”
Meanwhile, UAMS’ critical care team received a five-star rating for the treatment of sepsis, a life-threatening medical emergency that is caused by the body’s extreme immune response to an infection and one that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure or death if not treated quickly.
“Our critical care team provides specialized, 24/7 care for our intensive care patients, using the most up-to-date knowledge and resources available, and we appreciate the well-deserved applause,” said Michelle Krause, M.D., senior vice chancellor of UAMS Health and CEO of UAMS Medical Center.
Healthgrades based the ratings solely on patient outcomes, evaluating risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for over 30 of the most common conditions and procedures.
“As variation in performance among hospitals continues to grow, it is increasingly important for consumers to seek care at top-rated programs,” Healthgrades said in its announcement. “Our 2025 analysis revealed that if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to five-star hospitals during the 2021-2023 study period, on average, 224,958 lives could potentially have been saved and 141,692 complications could potentially have been avoided.”
Five-star hospitals are those with statistically better-than-expected performances.
From 2021-23, patients treated for heart failure in five-star hospitals had, on average, a 61.7% lower risk of dying than if they had been treated at a hospital with one star.
During that period, patients treated for sepsis in hospitals with five stars had, on average, a 39% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals with one star.
“Healthgrades commends UAMS for its clear commitment to delivering consistently superior patient outcomes in critical service areas, including heart failure and sepsis,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades. “UAMS’ leadership, expertise and unwavering dedication to clinical excellence set a high mark for specialty care in Arkansas and nationwide.”
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.
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