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 survey is called the “Hospital Safety Score,” which grades hospitals 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 website.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit organization, founded over a decade ago, administers the Hospital Safety Score. According to the website, 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.”

According to the website, "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 group’s Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows for hospitals to voluntarily, and at no cost, provide transparent information about their services.

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

• 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 15-minute driving distance from the Greater Willow Grove 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 website, the hospital, located at 1200 Old York Road in Abington, is a 665-bed, regional referral center and teaching hospital. It has served the Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties for over 90 years. It has over 5,400 employees, which include more than 1,100 physicians. The hospital admits approximately 42,000 inpatients and over 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 website, its Meadowbrook location, 1648 Huntingdon Pike, the hospital has 255 beds and a staff of over 300 physicians. 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 website, the hospital 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 over 80 years. Jeanes also has a certified primary Stroke Center.

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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.