BlueCross BlueShield Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care®

The national BlueCross BlueShield Association has recognized Saint Mary’s Hospital as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care® based on its superior patient outcomes and demonstrated expertise in delivering quality healthcare. Saint Mary’s Hospital is one of only six hospitals in Connecticut to have achieved this recognition for its cardiac program.

The goal of the national BlueCross BlueShield Blue Distinction® program is to increase the quality of care delivered by hospitals across the country. The program recognizes healthcare facilities for providing “distinguished care” in six specific areas: bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants. 

To date, about 500 healthcare facilities in the U.S. have met the evidence-based selection criteria to be recognized as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care®. The selection criteria were developed by the BlueCross BlueShield Association in collaboration with physician experts and medical organizations, including the American College of Cardiology and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
To qualify, hospitals must have an established cardiac care program, an experienced team of cardiac providers, including interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, and an established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive and emergency care. Hospitals must also offer a full range of cardiac services, from cardiac rehabilitation to cardiac catheterization and cardiac surgery, including coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

In addition, qualifying hospitals must be fully accredited by a CMS-deemed national accreditation organization, have lower overall complication and mortality rates and maintain a comprehensive quality management program. According to BlueCross BlueShield, about 64 percent of hospitals that have applied nationally have achieved designation as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care®.