The latest Hospital Safety Score released April 29 by The Leapfrog Group ® (Leapfrog) awarded Methodist Health System hospitals the following grades:
Methodist Charlton Medical Center – A
Methodist Dallas Medical Center – B
Methodist Mansfield Medical Center – A
Methodist Richardson Medical Center – A
The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of analysts identified by Leapfrog, an independent industry watchdog, as the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by Leapfrog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Score is free to the public and, according to Leapfrog, designed to give consumers information they can use to inform themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
“Our number one priority is the quality of care we provide to our patients in a safe and compassionate environment,” says Sam Bagchi, MD, vice president, chief medical informatics officer, chief quality officer, Methodist Health System. “We are proud of the progress we’ve made in our system’s overall performance in this survey which reflects our relentless commitment to excellence and the dedication of our doctors, nurses, and hospital team.”
In the latest patient safety survey, all four Methodist hospitals either retained their “A” from the previous survey or improved a full letter grade. Methodist Mansfield and Methodist Richardson remained at a grade of “A” from the Leapfrog survey in October 2013. Methodist Charlton improved from a “B” to an “A” and Methodist Dallas rose from a “C” to a “B.”
“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 Methodist Health System for achieving three “A” ratings and a “B” which shows us that Methodist made the well-being of patients your top priority.”
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 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in spring 2014, with about 32-percent receiving an “A” grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, and its website offers a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades.
Methodist voluntarily participates in reports and studies that further its continual quest to seek the highest quality health care for its patients. This is an active choice in the interest of full transparency that strongly supports Methodist’s commitment to continual performance improvement and compassionate quality care. Methodist believes it is important to provide meaningful, accurate, quality information to consumers. Reports such as these are just one of the many sources consumers can use to choose a hospital. Consumers also gain valuable insight from talking with their physicians, nurses, friends and family, or reviewing other quality data, such as that from CDC, Healthgrades, National Quality Forum, and others.
About Methodist Health System
Guided by the founding principles of life, learning, and compassion, Methodist Health System (Methodist) provides quality, integrated care to improve and save the lives of individuals and families throughout North Texas. Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Methodist Charlton Medical Center, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, Methodist Richardson Medical Center, and Methodist Family Health Centers are part of the nonprofit Methodist Health System, which is affiliated by covenant with the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. Additional information is available at www.methodisthealthsystem.org. Connect with them through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter at www.methodisthealthsystem.org/socialmedia.
About The Leapfrog Group
The Hospital Safety Score (www.hospitalsafetyscore.org) is an initiative of The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org), 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.
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