NCH earns another 'A' in Leapfrog Group patient safety score
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (May 20, 2013) – Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) has again received a grade of ‘A' in hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group's May release of grades. NCH also received this top grade last December. The Leapfrog Group is a not-for-profit organization which used 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to grade hospitals on their success in keeping patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.
NCH was one of 780 hospitals nationwide to earn an ‘A' in the Hospital Safety Score. In outcomes that measured errors, accidents and injuries, NCH had a perfect score in preventing foreign objects, such as surgical instruments or sponges, from being accidentally left inside a patient's body during surgery. NCH also scored perfectly in preventing air embolisms, which are blockages in patients' bloodstreams due to air or gas bubbles.
NCH also had perfect scores for several measures that looked into management structures and procedures in place to protect patients from errors, accidents and injuries.
NCH was a top scorer in patient safety culture and its approach to developing team-based care through training, skill building, and team-led performance improvement initiatives. NCH also had a top score for its implementation of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system, which helps reduce the number of errors related to handwriting or transcription and provides error checking for incorrect doses and tests.
“The results of the Hospital Safety Score illustrate how NCH is committed to patient safety,” NCH CEO Steve Scogna said. “Our multidisciplinary medical care teams of physicians and clinical care specialists are committed to providing patient-centered care in a safe, high quality of care environment.”
The Leapfrog Group graded more than 2,500 general hospitals throughout the country and released a Spring 2013 updated Hospital Safety Score, which found that hospitals throughout the country made only incremental progress, on average, in addressing errors, accidents, injuries and infections that can kill or harm patients.
“Safety is a 24/7, 365-day effort,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This update of grades and accompanying change in state rankings should serve as a reminder that we are on an ongoing journey. Patient safety shouldn't be merely a concern; it should be a priority. Everyone – including consumers, hospitals, patients, families of patients, unions and employers – has a role in improving safety in American hospitals.”
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About Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH)
Serving Chicago's northwest suburbs since 1959, NCH is a comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year, as well as nearly 30,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. The award-winning hospital holds the prestigious Magnet designation for nursing excellence, is designated as a Primary Stroke Center, earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval in 2011, and was awarded the Leapfrog Group's designation as one of the nation's Top Hospitals based on quality and safety criteria. NCH has four Immediate Care locations in the northwest suburbs and operates a FastCare Clinic in Palatine. NCH has a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians, which includes the board-certified primary care doctors and specialists of the NCH Medical Group. For more information or to find a doctor on the NCH Medical staff, visit www.nch.org.