Thomson Healthcare Study Finds That Hospitals Delivering High-Quality Heart Care Are Efficient and Cost Effe...( Results of the Thomson 100 Top Ho...),Health

Results of the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals(R) Cardiovascular Study Are

Announced Today

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- U.S. hospitals that are producing the best clinical outcomes for cardiovascular care also treat heart patients in less time and at a lower cost, according to a study released today by Thomson Healthcare (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).

The study -- 2007 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals(R): Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success -- examined the performance of nearly 1,000 U.S. hospitals by analyzing their outcomes for eight measures related to congestive heart failure, heart attacks, coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs), and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), such as angioplasties. A list of the 100 Top Hospitals, based on these results, is available at http://www.100tophospitals.com/winners/cardiowinners.aspx.

If all cardiovascular hospitals achieved the same results as the 100 Top Hospitals award winners, according to the study, more than 7,000 lives would be saved and nearly 750 medical complications would be avoided annually.

The study, in its ninth year, found that the 100 Top Hospitals award winners had:

-- Hospital stays that were 12 percent shorter, on average, than peer

hospitals (5.14 days compared with 5.85 days).

-- Costs that averaged 13 percent -- or about $2,000 -- less per case than

peer hospitals.

There also was a large difference in the volume of heart procedures performed by the cardiovascular award-winning hospitals and their peers. The winning hospitals performed nearly two-thirds more CABGs and PC
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