A Missoula hospital received its 13th consecutive "A" grade for hospital safety.
Providence St. Patrick Hospital received the honor from the Leapfrog Group, which provides the grades to help consumers seeking care.
Nearly 3,000 hospitals around the country receive grades from Leapfrog.
Two other Montana hospitals received an “A,” two received a “B" and five received a “C.”
Providence St. Patrick released the following information:
Providence St. Patrick Hospital recently received its 13th “A” grade for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group. TheLeapfrog Hospital SafetyGradeis the only hospital rating focused exclusively on hospital safety. Its A, B, C, D or Fletter grades are a quick way for consumers to choose the safest hospital to seek care.
Hospitals don't apply for this or pay for this grade; it is compiled by the Leapfrog group from available data. Leapfrog assigns a letter grade to nearly 3,000 U.S. general hospitals based on how well they protect patients from preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. Upwards of 200,000 people die annually due to preventable mistakes in hospitals, according to theJournal of Patient Safety. The Safety Grade provides consumers with the critical information on how likely they are to experience accidents, injuries, errors or harm while in the hospital.
Joyce Dombrouski, Chief Executive, Providence Montana, says, “We’re so proud to receive this award again! And to receive it for 13 consecutive times is a tribute to all of our caregivers who put safety and quality first for our patients. Montanans have a choice when it comes to choosing health care—and we encourage everyone to review clinical quality and safety metrics when deciding where to receive their care.”
For example, hospitals should have fewer than expected infections for C. diff bacteria. Leapfrog uses a standardized infection ratio calculated by the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network to compare the number of infections that happened at this hospital to the number of infections expected for this hospital, given various factors. A number lower than one means fewer infections than expected; a number more than one means more infections than expected. Providence St. Patrick Hospital’s standardized infection ratio is0.607.
Read the whole review for St. Pat's here.
Two other Montana hospitals received an “A”; two received a “B”; five received a “C.”
Search the Leapfrog Safety Grades for other United States hospitals here.