Palos Earns Accolades for Patient Safety

Palos Community Hospital is the recipient of the 2012 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, indicating that our patient safety ratings are in the top five percent of U.S. hospitals. Palos is one of 263 hospitals in the nation to receive this designation.

Palos also recently earned an “A” Hospital Safety Score from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, recognizing the hospital for being among the safest in the country.

Patient Safety Excellence Award

The HealthGrades study finds that Medicare patients at Patient Safety Excellence Award hospitals were less likely to experience one of 13 preventable safety events compared to hospitals in the bottom five percent in the nation. If all hospital’s performed at the level of distinction as Palos, approximately 254,000 patient safety events and 56,367 deaths among Medicare patients could have been avoided.

To identify the 2012 recipients, HealthGrades analyzed approximately 40 million hospitalization records from 5,000 hospitals nationwide that accept Medicare. Participation in the HealthGrades study is not voluntary, and hospitals cannot choose to opt out of the analysis.

"A” Hospital Safety Score

This award is intended to help consumers make informed decisions about the safety of the hospital they choose for their health care. “It’s The Leapfrog Group’s goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

“We congratulate hospitals that earned an ‘A’ and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first.”

The recognition from The Leapfrog Group was calculated under the guidance of a nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel. The Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall ability to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.

Focus on Patient Safety

“We are proud to be recognized for our commitment to safety,” says Marty Baron, vice president of Facilities and Systems Management, and chairperson of the hospital’s Safety Steering Committee. “At Palos Community Hospital, we continually strive to provide high quality care in a safe environment. This accomplishment is a direct result of our employees’ attention to patient safety.”