Vista Earns 'A' Rating for Patient Safety
Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan has been recognized with an “A” grade in the Fall 2013 update to the Hospital Safety Score from the Leapfrog Group.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent hospital ratings organization that awards hospitals based on safety, quality of care and value metrics. The score is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.
“We are committed to implementing the best practices available to safely care for our patients,” said Barbara Martin, President and CEO of Vista Health System. “This ‘A' rating affirms the important work being done by our medical staff, nurses and other employees as they care for patients each day.”
“Quality, safety and service are at the forefront of everything we do for patients,” said Dr. John Devaney, president-elect of the Medical Staff of Vista Health System. “Physicians on the medical staff and hospital employees are focused on the details to ensure each patient has the best possible experience and outcomes.” Dr. Devaney practices family medicine with offices in Antioch.
The Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org includes local and national scores. The Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 general U.S. hospitals were assigned scores this fall. A full analysis of the data and methodology used is available on the Hospital Safety Score website.
“As patients begin to take a more active role in selecting where to receive health care, it has never been more important to focus on hospital safety and transparency,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. “The ‘A' hospitals, including Vista Medical Center East, are helping us to raise the standards of health care nationwide.”
This is Vista's second recent recognition for patient safety. Last month, Vista received the Patient Safety Award presented by Community Health Systems (CHS), one of the nation's leading operators of general acute-care hospitals. The organization's affiliates include Vista Health System and 135 other hospitals in 29 states.
To continually improve safety, Vista applies practices that are demonstrated to improve patient safety, including improved communications, time-outs before procedures and hourly rounding.
Vista participates in the Health Engagement Network with the Illinois Hospital Association and has reduced hospital-acquired conditions such as falls, skin breakdown, blood clots, and medication errors. Vista also participated in Project BOOST with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine to improve transitions from the hospital to the next level of care and reduce readmissions.