Newswise — SEATTLE – (April 29, 2015) – Virginia Mason has earned an “A” for patient safety in The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2015 Hospital Safety Score. This marks the seventh consecutive time Virginia Mason has received the top grade since Leapfrog launched the program.
An “A” means Virginia Mason is among the safest hospitals in the region and nation to receive medical care.
“To maintain our ‘A’ Hospital Safety Score on an ongoing basis requires the dedication and focus on patient safety from every one of our team members,” said Virginia Mason Chairman and CEO Gary S. Kaplan, MD. “This recognition is another testament to our continuous efforts to ensure each of our patients receives the safest, highest quality care.”
The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, nonprofit hospital safety watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
The program, launched in June 2012, assigns A, B, C, D or F scores twice a year to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals based on their ability to prevent errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available safety data.
Leapfrog’s announcement of its Spring 2015 patient safety rating comes during national Patient Experience Week, a separate initiative recognizing efforts that improve health care experiences for patients, their families and caregivers. Safety is essential for a positive patient experience.
“From constantly striving for the best outcomes and the safest medical care to providing extraordinary service that makes patients want to come back year after year, there are countless ways we can positively affect the patient experience,” Dr. Kaplan said.
“We are taking steps to revolutionize health care,” he added. “Increasingly, we view patients and their families as equal partners as we co-design health care processes together, based on their feedback and needs. This is a fundamental shift in thinking for our industry, and Virginia Mason is once again helping to lead the way.”
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