Congratulations to staff members and physicians at Princeton Medical Center (PMC), which has earned another “A” in patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization that works to promote safety, quality and value in healthcare.
The latest letter grade was announced May 15 as part of the Spring 2019 edition of the Hospital Safety Grade, a comprehensive rating published twice annually by The Leapfrog Group to evaluate 2,600 hospitals nationwide on how well they protect patients from preventable errors, injuries and infections.
“We are committed to providing quality care and an exceptional patient experience throughout Penn Medicine Princeton Health,” said President and CEO Barry S. Rabner. “The Hospital Safety Grade gives our patients and their loved ones an objective analysis of how we are doing, and it serves our organization as well by highlighting strengths we can build on and any opportunities for improvement.”
The peer-reviewed rating system factors in 28 performance measures based on data from sources including the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the voluntary annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey, and patient experience surveys known as HCAHPS—or Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.
The safety grades account for a variety of clinical outcomes, including hospital-acquired infections, surgical errors, and patient falls, as well as process measures that promote patient safety, such as nurse staffing levels, how medications are ordered and administered, and whether specially trained physicians care for patients in the ICU/CCU. The analysis also includes patient survey results regarding the responsiveness of hospital staff and the quality of communication with doctors and nurses, and communication about medications and discharge.