Stormont-Vail HealthCare has earned an “A” in The Leapfrog Group’s national patient safety ratings program. The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital watchdog, announced the Hospital Safety Score results nationally today, recognizing Stormont-Vail’s strong commitment to patient safety.
"Stormont-Vail has established a strong track record of patient safety as a top priority in our organization. Leapfrog's recognition of those efforts is validation of the efforts by our medical staff, nurses, allied health professionals and all other staff members who work together to create a patient-centered and safe culture," said Randy Peterson, president and CEO of Stormont-Vail. "We are extremely proud of this recognition. It is a reflection of the dedication of the staff at Stormont-Vail."
The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
“The Hospital Safety Score provided by The Leapfrog Group is becoming the gold standard measure of patient safety,” said Doug Rose, M.D., Stormont-Vail’s Chief Medical Quality Officer. “It uses national performance measures to grades hospitals on how safe they keep their patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. Patient safety is a top priority for Stormont-Vail HealthCare. Leadership supports strong health care teams to reduce infection rates, put checks in place to prevent mistakes, and ensure strong lines of communication between hospital staff, patients, and families. This effort has earned Stormont-Vail Hospital an “A” Grade for Hospital Safety; a distinction only five other hospitals in the state of Kansas earned for the Fall 2015.”
“Stormont-Vail’s A grade is a powerful reminder of its commitment to putting patient safety above all else, and we are pleased to recognize the persistent efforts of your clinicians and staff to protect your patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Our families, neighbors, colleagues and friends deserve a hospital that will pull out all the stops to keep them safe, and we urge Stormont-Vail and all other A hospitals to preserve and renew your commitment to safety year after year.”
Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.
To see Stormont Vail’s full score, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.
