Northeast Methodist Hospital excels in patient safety – awarded “A” in Spring 2014 Hospital Safety Score

NE_methodistNortheast Methodist Hospital, a campus of  Methodist Healthcare, was honored this week with an “A” grade in the semiannual 2014 update to the Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries and infections. The Hospital Safety Score has become the national standard on hospital safety with “A” grades representing the safest hospitals in the United States.

The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered byThe Leapfrog Group (Leapfrog), an independent industry watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be analyzed in the peer-reviewed Journal of Patient Safety, the Score is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.

“Our ‘A’ score represents our staff’s diligence in making safety a top priority in patient care,” said Jack Martin, MD, Chief of Staff, Northeast Methodist Hospital.

“As patients take a more active role in selecting where to receive health care, it has never been more important to focus on hospital safety and transparency.”

“Safety should come first for our families when we pick a hospital, because errors and infections are common and deadly,” said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which produces the Hospital Safety Score. “No hospital is perfect, but we congratulate the Board, clinicians, administration, and staff of Northeast Methodist Hospital for achieving an “A” and showing us that you made the well-being of you patients your top priority.”

To see Methodist Healthcare’s scores as they compare nationally and locally, and to find safety tips for patients and their loved ones, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org. Local hospitals’ scores are also available on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

Calculated 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 general U.S. hospitals were assigned scores this fall. A full analysis of the data and methodology used is available on the Hospital Safety Score website.

About Methodist Healthcare of San Antonio Methodist Healthcare System – San Antonio is the largest provider of health care in South and Central Texas with 26 facilities including nine hospitals serving 93,000 inpatients and 350,000 outpatients annually. The Methodist Healthcare team is comprised of 8,000 employees, making Methodist Healthcare the third largest private employer in San Antonio. The Texas Quality Foundation selected Methodist Healthcare to receive the 2014 Texas Award for Performance Excellence. Methodist Healthcare is the first and only health care system in South Texas to receive this award which requires an organization to demonstrate its commitment to the highest quality standards. Methodist Healthcare has won the National Research Foundation’s Consumer Choice Award for 14 consecutive years, more times than any other health care provider in Texas. For the past six years, Methodist Healthcare has received “Best Hospital” Gold Award by the San Antonio Express-News’ Readers’ Choice Awards. With more than 2,700 credentialed physicians, Methodist Healthcare provides the largest array of medical services in the region including neurosurgery, cardiovascular services, oncology and women’s services. Visit www.SAHealth.com to learn more.

About The Leapfrog Group The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.