Vermont Business Magazine The Leapfrog Group, a Washington DC-based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, today released the new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Rutland Regional Medical Center was one of 750 awarded an ‘A’ for its efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the US. The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care. Rutland Regional is the only hospital in Vermont to receive an “A” rating for this spring. Since 2013, Rutland Regional has the distinction of earning of at least one “A” rating for each year for patient safety.
“Only about one-third of hospitals nationwide get an ‘A’ grade from the Leapfrog organization,” said Claudio Fort, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rutland Regional Medical Center. “Our ‘A’ rating is indicative of the strong culture and focus on patient safety by all of the 1,700 employees who put patients first every day at Rutland Regional Medical Center.”
“This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections, and injuries,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of the Leapfrog Group. “Receiving an ‘A’ Safety Grade means a hospital is among the best in the country for preventing these terrible problems and putting their patients first, 24 hours a day.”
Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
Five Vermont hospitals were graded, with the other four all receiving a 'C' grade: Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin, Northwestern Vermont Medical Center in St Albans, and The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, also received a 'C' grade.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative; assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.
About Rutland Regional Medical Center
Rutland Regional Medical Center founded in 1896, is the largest community hospital and the second largest health care facility in Vermont with a medical staff of 256 physicians trained in 37 specialty areas. With a strong patient focus, consistent quality performance, nursing excellence, and award winning care, Rutland Regional remains dedicated to improving the health of families and individuals throughout Rutland County and beyond. Rutland Regional was honored as the “Best Regional Hospital” by U.S. News& World Report for 2017-2018, recognized as “high performing” in four procedures and conditions -Heart Failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Hip Replacement, and Knee Replacement. Recently recognized in US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Hospitals to receive common care, Rutland Regional was the first hospital in Vermont to receive both the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence and Magnet Recognition® for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovation. In 2016 and 2017, Rutland Regional Medical Center was the recipient of Healthcare’s Most Wired® award for the exceptional way the hospital uses technology to build patient engagement, specifically in how the patient is afforded electronic access to their care team. Rutland Regional has also been recognized by the Joint Commission as a Top Performer in Key Quality Measures, honored with an “A” grade in Hospital Safety Grade by The Leapfrog Group in the fall 2016, spring of 2017, and fall of 2017, and Spring of 2018 Hospital Safety Score, and was named by Healthgrades among the top 10% in the Nation for Outstanding Patient Experience and Patient Safety in 2015. Rutland Women’s Healthcare, a Department of Rutland Regional Medical Center was recently awarded a Safety Certification in Outpatient Practice Excellence (SCOPE) for Women’s Health Program certification. SCOPE is a safety focused program of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Rutland Women’s Healthcare is among the first ob-gyn offices in the country to be certified.
To see Rutland Regional’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook.
Source: RRMC 4.24.2018