Los Angeles (April 15, 2016) - Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross of California have designated
Good Samaritan Hospital as a Blue Distinction® Center in the Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care program, part
of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers
are nationally designated health care facilities shown to deliver improved
patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures
that were developed with input from the medical community.
To receive a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care designation, a hospital
must demonstrate its expertise in delivering safe and effective cardiac
care, focusing on cardiac valve surgery, coronary artery bypass graft
(CABG) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) episodes of care.
A hospital must also have earned national accreditation at the facility level.
Good Samaritan Hospital offers comprehensive cardiac care services, including
inpatient cardiac care, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac catheterization
and cardiac surgery (including coronary artery bypass graft surgery).
To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care, Good Samaritan
Hospital met the selection criteria which include:
- an established cardiac care program, performing required annual volumes
for certain procedures (e.g. a minimum of 125 cardiac surgical procedures
annually, including both CABG and/or valve surgery)
- appropriate experience of its cardiac team, including sub-specialty board
certification for interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons
- an established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care,
emergency and a full range of cardiac services
- full accreditation by The Joint Commission, Healthcare Facilities Accreditation
Program (HFAP) or national equivalent
- low overall complication and mortality rates
- a comprehensive quality management program
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming
more than 610,000 lives—1 in 4—each year, according to the
Centers for Disease Control.1 By 2030, 40.5 percent of the U.S. population is projected to have some
form of cardiovascular disease, and the cost of cardiac care is expected
to reach $818 billion—an increase of almost 300 percent from 2010,
according to the
American Heart Association. The Blue Distinction Specialty Care program seeks to reduce this burden
by empowering patients with the knowledge and tools to find quality cardiac care.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients
find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of
bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip
replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants, while encouraging
healthcare professionals to improve the care they deliver. Research shows
that facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better
quality and improved outcomes for patients compared with their peers.
For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the
designated facilities, please visit
www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health
Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2013 on CDC WONDER Online Database,
released 2015. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2013,
as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions
through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program: http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html.
Accessed on Feb 3, 2015.
About Good Samaritan Hospital
First opened in 1885, Good Samaritan Hospital is a 408-bed tertiary care
facility offering some of the most comprehensive care in Los Angeles.
Specializing in cardiac, orthopaedic, oncologic, ophthalmologic, and women’s
services, Good Samaritan Hospital offers various medical and surgical
programs in its six centers of excellence: Heart & Vascular Center,
Comprehensive Orthopaedic Center, Davajan-Cabal Center for Perinatal Medicine,
Pancreatico-Biliary, Tertiary Retinal Surgery, and Transfusion-Free Medicine
& Surgery Center. For more information visit
www.goodsam.org.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue
Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 4 million members,
6,800 employees and more than $13 billion in annual revenue. Founded in
1939 and headquartered in San Francisco, Blue Shield of California and
its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare health
care service plans in California. The company’s mission is to ensure
all Californians have access to high-quality care at an affordable price.
Blue Shield has contributed more than $325 million over the past ten years
to the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Contact your local agent
or broker about Blue Shield of California products and services, or visit
www.blueshieldca.com.
About Anthem Blue Cross
Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem
Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are
independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ® ANTHEM is a
registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross
names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association.
Also follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/AskAnthem or
www.twitter.com/AnthemPR_CA, on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/AskAnthem.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent,
community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies
that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members
– one in three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross
Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit
www.BCBS.com. We encourage you to connect with us on
Facebook, check out our videos on
YouTube, follow us on
Twitter and check out
The BCBS Blog for up-to-date information about BCBSA.
About Blue Distinction Centers
Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient
safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community.
A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located
in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue
Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’
need for affordable healthcare. Each facility’s cost of care is
evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Facilities in CA, ID, NY,
PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in
two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide
whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national
criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on www.bcbs.com.
Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network
status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan
and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross
and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered
charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or
other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction
or other providers.