Saint Anthony’s Receives “A” Grade

Saint Anthony’s Health Center renewed its "A" grade safety rating from The Leapfrog Group, which places the Alton hospital among the top-performing medical centers in the nation for its patient-safety standards.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit organization and advocate for hospital transparency, just released its Hospital Safety ScoreSM standings based on the latest public data used to evaluate patient safety.  The organization assigns letter grades from A to F to hospitals throughout the country for their patient safety practices.

This is the second consecutive “A” score on patient safety for Saint Anthony’s. Saint Anthony’s received a higher Hospital Safety ScoreSM letter grade than the letter grades received by all other hospitals in Madison and St. Clair counties in the Spring update.

“The Leapfrog recognition reaffirms our commitment to the community to ensure the highest standards of quality and patient satisfaction – for every patient, every visit,” said E.J. Kuiper, President & CEO of Saint Anthony’s Health Center. “We welcome the availability of credible sources of data and information, like The Joint Commission and Leapfrog, to help consumers and patients make better informed decisions about their health care.”

In 2012, Saint Anthony’s was acknowledged by The Joint Commission, the nation’s leading authority on healthcare organizations, as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures in the nation for delivering outstanding patient care.

Kuiper noted several Health Center patient safety initiatives that have earned high marks from The Joint Commission, including a best practice citation for identification of high alert medication through its automatic medication system. Saint Anthony’s patient care clinicians also use barcode scanning as part of bedside medication verification, as well as follow National Patient Safety Goals, such as patient identification, fall prevention, universal protocols/time-out during surgery and medication labeling.

In addition to the Health Center’s recognition by The Joint Commission for quality and patient safety, Saint Anthony’s cancer program also received special recognition as one of a select group of 106 currently accredited cancer programs across the United States and one of six in Illinois to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer that recognizes top cancer programs for providing quality cancer care.

“Our Sisters and Mission Partners are focused on not only meeting, but exceeding every patient’s expectation across the continuum of care,” Kuiper said.

To see Saint Anthony’s Leapfrog scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. People can also check their local hospital’s score on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

“Earning an ‘A’ on the Hospital Safety Score demonstrates that this hospital has exhibited excellence in our national database of patient safety measures,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I’d like to congratulate Saint Anthony’s for its achievements.”

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s eight-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (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). 

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit 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.

For more information about Saint Anthony’s Health Center, visit www.sahc.org.

Saint Anthony's Health Center received an "A" grade last week from The Leapfrog Group for outstanding patient safety standards - the only hospital in Madison and St. Clair counties to receive the high mark. Pictured here is Rebecca Rohan, RN, Charge Nurse, accessing the hospital's Pyxis system that features a system to detect high alert medication to prevent medication errors. This is the second consecutive "A" grade for Saint Anthony's.

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