DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems, today announced the recipients of the annual Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience Awards. These awards recognize the hospitals around the country that make patient safety a top priority and provide an outstanding patient experience.
As hospitals resume more normal operations and begin to schedule elective procedures, consumers are becoming increasingly aware about the importance of the quality of care. As reported through the ongoing COVID-19 Patient Confidence Study, consumers are 65% more likely than they were prior to the onset of coronavirus to choose a hospital based on the quality of care they will receive, over other factors like travel time.
“We’re seeing an important shift in consumer behavior, as healthcare quality remains in the national spotlight as the country reemerges from the coronavirus pandemic,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud and are grateful for these hospitals around the country that are working so hard and are committed to providing the care and best experience for their patients.”
Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award™
In 2020, 456 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, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
During the study period (2016-2018), Healthgrades 2020 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 13 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, on average*:
- 48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals.
Healthgrades 2020 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™
In 2020, 424 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 3,346 hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from April 2018 through March 2019, to identify hospital performance.
Healthgrades evaluated hospital performance by applying a scoring methodology to 10 patient experience measures, using data collected from a 29-question experience survey from 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.
Learn more about how hospitals partner with Healthgrades.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2019.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent three-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 Healthgrades, 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 and life sciences clients cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.
