healthgrades 2012 patient safety & patient satisfaction report

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 bed sores and catheter-related bloodstream infections.

Full Answer

How to prevent patient safety events?

Hospitals around the country are now measuring and tracking their rates of preventable patient safety events .

Why do hospitals use a surgical safety checklist?

Many hospitals are now using a surgical safety checklist to ensure proper patient identification, correct site of surgery, and preventive measures, such as the patient receiving antibiotics before surgery.

How serious are falls in hospitals?

Patient falls in hospitals can be very serious, especially for patients older than 65. To prevent patient falls, many hospitals have implemented fall prevention programs that include interventions: identifying patients at risk for falls, using treaded socks, placing the patient bed so that the patient may get out on his or her strong er side, and reviewing and adjusting medications that could contribute to the patient’s risk of falling.

What is the method used to explain back to the healthcare professional?

Hospitalized patients receive a lot of information about their condition, their medications, and follow-ups after the hospitalization. To help ensure that patients understand this information, hospitals use a method called teach back where patients are asked to explain back to the healthcare professional the information they were just told.

What is the importance of a culture of safety?

Hospitals that implement a culture of safety encourage staff to report patient safety events. If staff is fearful of reprisals, then events are not reported and hospitals cannot make necessary adjustments to their process. A culture of safety encourages and supports staff in reporting adverse patient safety events.

How does a patient safety rating work?

Patient safety ratings evaluate the safety and quality of care at a hospital by measuring the rate at which serious, potentially preventable complications and adverse events occurred in the hospital. Healthgrades uses the following data sources for patient safety ratings and awards:

What are patient safety indicators?

Patient safety indicators are serious, potentially preventable complications that occur during a patient’s hospital stay. Healthgrades patient safety ratings look at 14 types of serious, potentially preventable complications. Thirteen of the 14 indicators are measured as rates (observed and expected number of events).

What is Healthgrades data?

To help consumers evaluate and compare patient safety performance, HealthGrades analyzed patient outcome data for virtually every hospital in the country. HealthGrades used data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The Medicare data (MedPAR file) from CMS contained the inpatient records for Medicare patients.

What is the definition of patient safety?

AHRQ’s development of the Patient Safety Indicators was based on the Institute of Medicine’s definition of patient safety, which is “freedom from accidental injury due to medical care, or medical errors.”1Medical error is defined as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim…[including] problems in practice, products, procedures, and systems.”7

What is the top priority for hospitals?

Policymakers, providers, and consumers have made the safety of patients in United States hospitals a top priority. The need to monitor, track, assess, and improve the safety of inpatient care is at the top of many stakeholders’ agendas.