Press Ganey Presents Hospital for Special Surgery with the 2013 Guardian of Excellence Award for Providing Outstanding Patient Experience

New York—November 19, 2013

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation, has been named a 2013 Guardian of Excellence Award winner by Press Ganey Associates, Inc. The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing facilities. HSS has won the award for its extraordinary results in the Patient Satisfaction category.

The Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award is a health care industry symbol of achievement and represents an important recognition from the industry’s leader in measuring, understanding and improving the patient experience. Fewer than 5% of all Press Ganey clients reach this threshold and consistently maintain it for the one year reporting period. Press Ganey partners with more than 10,000 health care facilities, including more than half of all U.S. hospitals, to measure and improve the patient experience.

"We are proud to partner with Hospital for Special Surgery,” said Patrick T. Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “Achieving this level of excellence reflects the organization’s commitment to delivering outstanding service and quality. HSS’s efforts benefit its patients around the world and will lead to improved patient experiences globally."

For the 21st consecutive quarter, HSS has achieved the 99th percentile rank on “likelihood of patients recommending HSS to friends and family” when benchmarked against 180 Magnet designated hospitals nationwide. This is a leading indicator of patient satisfaction, and “likelihood to recommend” is one of the best measures for comparing one hospital to another. HSS also continues to achieve 99th percentile for overall rating of care.

“It is an honor to be recognized with this award,” said Lou Shapiro, president and CEO. “Our patients are at the center of all we do at HSS and this award is a direct reflection on the high-quality care that is part of our culture.”

“This recognition by Press Ganey speaks to the high level of engagement and the commitment to excellence on the part of every member of the HSS family.” said Bruce Slawitsky, vice president, Human Resources & Service Excellence. “Our staff members are dedicated to this institution and our patients, and this is felt through the care that they provide to patients.”

“Patients choose to come to HSS from all over the world and many of them come here because of excellent word of mouth advertisement,” added Chao Wu, director, Service Excellence. In fact, based on data received for the recent quarter, 94 percent of our patients will likely recommend HSS to their friends and family.”