Healthgrades lauds 466 hospitals with patient safety recognition

Healthgrades has named 466 U.S. hospitals recipients of its Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience awards. 

For the two awards, Healthgrades evaluated patient experience by applying a scoring methodology to data on 10 patient experience measures supplied by the HCHAPS survey of patients’ perspectives of their hospital care. Patient safety was evaluated utilizing claims data from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), and the application of software and patient safety incidents as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). 

The awarded hospitals rank in the top 10 percent of all hospitals evaluated for their excellent performance in safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications.

Healthgrades also issued a white paper that includes key patient safety findings: Four types of events make up almost 75 percent of all patient safety incidents reported by hospitals--accidental cut, puncture, or hemorrhage; collapsed lung; infections; and bedsores.

Healthgrades said on average, 270,457 patient safety events could have been prevented if all hospitals, as a group from 2012 to 2014, performed similarly to hospitals who exceeded expectations. 

The overall trends along with regional and hospital type differences indicate the experience measures themselves need to be re-evaluated and updated.

“In the area of patient experience, our white paper suggests that hospitals need to better understand shifting drivers of satisfaction in diverse patient populations across different hospital settings,” said Evan Marks, chief strategy officer. “With regard to patient safety, the Healthgrades report found that since 75 percent of incidents reported by all hospitals were concentrated within seven conditions/procedures, hospitals should focus their evaluation and preventive measures within these cohorts, streamlining their efforts for maximum results.”