DUNN, N.C. – Harnett Health Betsy Johnson and Central Harnett Hospitals recently received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award. This award recognizes the superior performance of the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during their stays.
“It makes me proud for Harnett Health to receive this award, and residents in Harnett County should feel equally proud that their community hospital is among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient safety,” said Harnett Health president, Kevin Jackson.
Harnett Health was one of just 13 hospitals in North Carolina to receive this award for 2018. Healthgrades looks at data reports of hospital-related accidents from accidental cuts, collapsed lungs, catheter-related bloodstream infections, to bedsores.
“They looked at three years worth of data reported to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and compared the data with other hospitals,” said Tammy Woerner, Harnett Health Director of Quality and Compliance. “Both of our hospitals have done really well with reducing the amount of adverse events and infections. This award speaks volumes to the hard work of our clinical staff.”
Patient safety measures how well a hospital prevents injuries, infections, and other serious conditions based on 14 serious, potentially preventable adverse events. The Patient Safety Excellence Award recognizes hospitals that have the lowest occurrence of those preventable patient safety events.
During the 2014 to 2016 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:
- 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation, or hemorrhage during medical care than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 52.4 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
Hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
If all hospitals achieved the average performance of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators evaluated during the 2014 to 2016 study period, 126,342 patient safety events could have been avoided.
Healthgrades is a Denver-based company that provides scheduling and advanced analytics solutions to over 500 hospitals in the country.