Five Arkansas hospitals earn top patient safety grades from national nonprofit group
by November 22, 2016 2:31 pm 334 views
Mercy Hospital Fort Smith and Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers are two of the five hospital in Arkansas to receive the top “A” rating from the national nonprofit Leapfrog Group, which recently announced its fall 2016 release of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The program assigns letter grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals bi-annually and is the gold standard measure of patient safety in the United States.
Of the 2,633 hospitals evaluated in the U.S., 844 earned an A. Of the 28 hospitals evaluated in Arkansas, five earned an A. Others were Unity Health White County Medical Center in Searcy, Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden and Magnolia Regional Medical Center in Magnolia.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety uses 30 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.
“This is simply outstanding,” Mercy Fort Smith Hospital President Ryan Gehrig said in a news release, noting that the award reflects on all co-workers’ contributions to safety, from physicians to support staff. “The Mercy Hospital team continues to demonstrate an ability to improve performance and achieve excellence across multiple fronts. I feel humbled and blessed to work alongside so many dedicated and caring people who have a relentless passion to get healthcare right.”
Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas President Eric Pianalto said the Leapfrog Group rating is important because it gives patients and their families a quick read on a hospital’s safety record, plus more comprehensive information they can study in depth.
The safety grade is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Patients can see the scores of hospitals across the country by visiting the Hospital Safety Score website, which also includes consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital.