DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, today announced the recipients of the annual Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience Awards. These awards, which were released in conjunction with the American Hospital Association’s National Hospital Week (May 12-18), recognize the hospitals around the country that make patient safety a top priority and provide an outstanding patient experience.
Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award™
In 2019, 460 hospitals across the nation achieved the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, placing them among the top 10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data. On average, 127,667 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals performed similarly to award recipients on each of the 14 patient safety indicators evaluated by Healthgrades*.
During the study period (2015-2017), Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 14 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). As part of the assessment, Healthgrades also reviews the ‘Retained Foreign Object’ indicator; this adverse outcome is considered a “never” event and hospitals that report even one of these events are ineligible for the award.
Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipients hospitals, on average*:
- 55.9% less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care.
- 50.9% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.
- 64.4% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.
- 57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.
“Consumers are becoming more involved in their own health care and are spending more time researching and selecting the right provider and hospital for their specific needs. Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award & Outstanding Patient Experience Award highlight the hospitals that are making patient safety and experience a priority and will help patients feel confident to make more informed decisions about their health care,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades.
Healthgrades 2019 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™
In 2019, 434 hospitals received the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award, representing the top 15 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient experience. As part of the analysis, Healthgrades evaluated 3,449 hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from January 2017 through December 2017 to identify hospital performance in this area.
Healthgrades evaluated hospital performance by applying a scoring methodology to 9 patient experience measures, using data collected from a 32-question patient experience survey of the hospital’s own patients. The survey questions focus on patients’ perspectives of their care in the hospital, ranging from cleanliness and noise levels in patient rooms to factors such as provider communication. The measures also include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends or family.
Access a complete list of the award recipients.
View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
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*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 5e and 2018) to MedPAR data for years 2015 through 2017 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At www.healthgrades.com, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and advanced analytics applications, we help our health system clients representing over 1,500 hospitals across the country to cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.
