How Safe is Your Hospital?

A national survey on hospital safety may put some incoming patients’ minds at ease – at least in the Montgomery County area.

The inaugural “Hospital Safety Score,” a recently released survey, grades more than 2,600 hospitals - including those in Montgomery County and the region - on an “A, B, C, D or F” system. Each letter reflects patients’ safety in that hospital.

“For the first time ever, this score empowers you to make informed decisions about the safety of your hospital care,” reads the Hospital Safety Score Web site.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit organization, founded more than a decade ago, administers the Hospital Safety Score. According to the Web site, the group is made up of the nation’s leading employers and private healthcare experts, whose mission it is to “make giant ‘leaps’ forward in safety, quality and affordability of healthcare in the U.S.”

"One in four Medicare patients will walk out of a hospital with an issue they didn’t walk in with, many of which are fatal," the Web site contends. 

The group’s Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows for hospitals to voluntarily, and at no cost, provide transparent information about their services. The impetus for the survey, according to the Leapfrog Group's Web site, is that 400 people reportedly die daily as a result of hospital errors. 

In the Hospital Safety Score, an expert panel of the Leapfrog Group analyzes 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data that helps determine the overall score. These measurements take into account several factors, including:

• Process Measures – how often a hospital gives patients recommended treatment for a given medical condition or procedure (i.e. how often a hospital adheres to medical standard practices)

• Structural Measures – representing the hospital care environment (i.e. technology used to prevent medication errors)

• Outcome Measures – representing what happens to a patient while receiving care (i.e. how many times after surgery a foreign object is left in the body.)

Patch chose the three closest hospitals within an approximate 20-minute driving distance from the Hatboro-Horsham area.

These hospitals and their scores, based off the LeapFrog Group Hosptial Safety Score, are as follows:

Abington Memorial Hospital: C

According to Abington Memorial Hospital’s Web site, the hospital, located at 1200 Old York Road in Abington, is a 665-bed, regional referral center and teaching hospital. It has served Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties for more than 90 years. The hospital admits approximately 42,000 inpatients and more than 500,000 outpatients a year. It is also the only Level-2 trauma center in Montgomery County.

Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center: A

According to the Holy Redeemer Hospital Web site, its Meadowbrook location, 1648 Huntingdon Pike, has 255 beds. It is part of the Holy Redeemer Health System, and highlights its maternity, cardiovascular, cancer and emergency room care. The hospital also features rehabilitation programs and home-health services.

Jeanes Hospital: B

Jeanes hospital is located at 7600 Central Ave. in Philadelphia. According to the hospital’s Web site, Jeanes is a part of the Temple University Health System, and features several special programs, including Bariatric surgery and individual heart, orthopaidic and spine centers. The hospital has served the greater Philadelphia community for more than 80 years. Jeanes also has a certified primary Stroke Center.

In a larger sweep of the Leapfrog Group’s hospital map, most of the Montgomery County hospitals received a grade of C or better. No hospital received a lesser or failing grade.