Saint Mary’s Health Network receives Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award

Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center announced today that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award^™, a designation that recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays.

The Healthgrades distinction places Saint Mary’s among the top 5 percent of all acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

“Saint Mary’s is very proud to share with our community that we are a recipient of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award,” said Helen Lidholm, CEO of Saint Mary’s Health Network. “Our clinical staff work exceptionally hard to ensure the highest safety standards are implemented. This awards signifies our commitment to making sure every patient at our hospital is cared for in a manner that reflects our safety practices.”

During the 2013-2015 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

• 40.0% less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
• 44.6% 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 catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
• 50.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.^[1]

Saint Mary’s team of physicians and staff implemented and evaluated numerous processes that lead to the receipt of this award. The noted best practices include implementing real time review of potential patient safety indicators and creating collaboration between numerous disciplines; the development of tracking tools and electronic systems for trend monitoring; securing physician champion leaders to provide education to their peers; and the creation of a daily safety clinical huddle which addresses potential concerns immediately.

“Hospitals who have been recognized as Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients have minimized patient safety events and surpassed expectations in preventing safety incidents,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals for their performance and for their organizational commitment to delivering high-quality care.”

On average, 134,568 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals, as a group from 2013 to 2015, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 patient safety indicators evaluated by Healthgrades.

During the study period (2013-2015), Healthgrades 2017 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).

For more information about Healthgrades or to download a full copy of the report, or to receive information about hospital and physician quality, visit: www.Healthgrades.com/quality.

Additionally, to see a listing of all awards and achievements from Saint Mary’s, visit www.SaintMarysReno.com/awards.