NCH Recognized by Healthgrades with 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award

by Paul Hiltz, President/CEO, FACHE

I am excited to announce that the NCH HealthcareSystem has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places NCH among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers.

During the study period (2018 through 2020), 170,231 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all in hospital patient safety events: hip fracture due to a fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bedsores, and catheter-related bloodstream infections.

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ like NCH has, were on average:

• 52.6% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
• 55.8% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
•  65.8% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*
• 66.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*

With the recent Leapfrog “A” ratings for safety, and now this latest award for patient safety excellence from HealthGrades, the level of safe, exceptional healthcare provided by NCH to our community has never been better.

The recognition of our commitment to the highest levels of exceptional patient care is yet another reason why NCH should be your healthcare provider of choice.

When it comes to choosing healthcare, quality saves lives, which is why Healthgrades is committed to delivering the most scientifically accurate and comprehensive information about doctors and hospitals — with data insights not available anywhere else. To that end, it’s important for consumers to know that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the HealthGrades Patient Safety Award Recipients, such as NCH, 100,189 patient safety events could have been avoided.

*Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award™ methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2021.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2018 through 2020 and represent 3-yearestimates for Medicare patients only.