SBUH Receives “A” Grade on Patient Safety from Leapfrog Group
SBUH among 27 percent of hospitals nationwide to earn top rating
STONY BROOK, N.Y, June 8, 2012 – Stony Brook University Hospital is one of 729 hospitals nationwide to receive an “A”
Leapfrog Group
Hospital Safety ScoreSM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The score represents a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.
The Leapfrog Group selected a blue ribbon panel of experts who rated 2,652 hospitals nationwide and assigned grades of A, B, C, D or F for their safety, using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. The assessment included 130 hospitals in New York State.
“We are pleased to be rated among the 27 percent of hospitals in the nation who merited an ‘A’ for patient safety,” said Fred Sganga, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital. “The fact that two thirds of hospitals nationwide received ‘B’ or ‘C’ ratings speaks to the distinctiveness of the top-tier hospitals.”
“It’s The Leapfrog Group’s goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the hospitals that earned an ‘A’ and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first.”
The Hospital Safety Score consists of 26 hospital safety measures, including 15 measurements of processes and structure, plus 11 measurements of outcomes. The measures are drawn from a variety of sources, including data from the American Hospital Association, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) of The Joint Commission. They include hospital-acquired conditions, such as pressure ulcers, and rates of central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI).
The 2,652 hospitals nationally rated as follows:
• 729 hospitals earned A’s (27.5%)
• 680 hospitals earned B’s (25.6%)
• 1,111 hospitals earned C’s (41.9%)
• 132 hospitals received grades below C and are classified as “grade pending” (5%)
The Blue Ribbon panel conducting the evaluations consists of John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).
To see how Stony Brook’s scores compare nationally and locally, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay.
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About Stony Brook University Hospital:
Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) is Long Island’s premier academic medical center. With 597 beds, SBUH serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Level 1 Trauma Center, and is home to the Stony Brook Heart Institute, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital, Stony Brook Neurosciences Institute, and Stony Brook Digestive Disorders Institute. SBUH also encompasses Suffolk County’s only Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center, state-designated AIDS Center, state-designated Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, state-designated Burn Center, the Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence, and Kidney Transplant Center. It is home of the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookmedicine.edu.
About The Leapfrog Group:
The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.
© Stony Brook University 2012
