13 GA Hospitals Named Among Best For Patient Safety, Experience

GEORGIA — Thirteen hospitals in Georgia are among hundreds nationwide recognized for safety and patient experience by Healthgrades, a comprehensive database of ratings and comparisons for physicians, hospitals and health care providers.

Awards announced Tuesday include the 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award, which recognizes hospitals nationwide for high-quality care and prevention of serious safety events during hospital stays, and the 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award.

Only 79 of 444 hospitals nationwide received both awards.

The hospitals in Georgia that were among those recognized on either lists include:

• Adventhealth Redmond, Rome,Patient Safety, top 15 percent, 250 best overall
• Doctors Hospital, Augusta, Patient Safety, top 5 percent
• Fairview Park Hospital, Dublin, Patient Safety, top 5 percent
• Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah, Patient Safety, top 5 percent
• Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, Athens, Patient Safety, top 5 percent
• Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center, Cartersville, Patient Safety, top 10 percent
• Piedmont Macon Medical Center, Macon, Patient Safety, top 5 percent
• Piedmont Macon North Hospital, Macon, Patient Safety, top 10 percent
• Wellstar Douglas Hospital, Douglasville, Patient Safety, top 10 percent
• Cancer Treatment Center of America - Atlanta, Newnan, Patient Experience, top 15 percent
• Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Patient Experience, top 15 percent, 250 best overall
• Memorial Health Meadows Hospital, Vidalia, Patient Experience, top 5 percent
• Northside Hospital Cherokee, Canton, top 5 percent

The Patient Safety Excellence Award was presented to the top 10 percent of hospitals, based on an analysis of required data reporting in 13 patient safety measures. Read more about the methodology.

Healthgrades said that if all hospitals observed the same protocols as those in this category, they could have avoided more than 97,000 patient safety events between 2020 and 2022, the report said. The analysis revealed that patients treated at recipient hospitals are less likely to experience the following safety events compared to patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

• In-hospital falls resulting in fracture (approximately 52 percent less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 56 percent less likely)
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 67 percent less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (approximately 71 percent less likely).

For the patient experience awards, Healthgrades reviewed Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient survey data. Read more about the methodology. The 388 award recipients in this category represent the top 15 percent of eligible U.S. hospitals that provided best-in-class patient experiences during the January 2022 to December 2022 study period.

Experiences that made a difference to patients included communication with both doctors and nurses, as well as clear communication about follow-up care upon discharge.