St. Mary’s Health Care System announced today that it has achieved Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award for the fifth year in a row and is named among the nation’s top 5 percent of hospitals for patient safety for the third year in a row.

This designation honors St. Mary’s performance in safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications during their hospital stays.

“We are extremely proud of the work of our medical staff, clinical staff and entire health care team to ensure that our patients receive safe, high-quality care,” said Don McKenna, St. Mary’s President and CEO. “We continue to focus on improving our patient’s safety and experience and designing our care delivery model to achieve exceptional results.” 

“We commend all recipients of the Healthgrades 2015 Patient Safety Excellence Award,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades. “This achievement reflects an organization-wide commitment to delivering high-quality care and to protecting patients from potentially preventable complications.” 

During the study period (2011-2013), hospitals that received the patient safety award performed with excellence in providing safety for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  

According to Healthgrades, on average, 133,896 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals, as a group from 2011 from 2013, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 Patient Safety Indicators evaluated by Healthgrades.

Compared to patients at non-recipient hospitals, patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award during this study period were, on average:

• 43.9 percent less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure.
• 53.6 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.
• 47.4 percent less likely to experience catheter-related blood stream infections.
• 43.8 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.

In recent years, St. Mary’s has implemented numerous programs and best practices to enhance patient safety, including:

• Medication reconciliation – St. Mary’s uses a computer-based system to screen for drug errors, duplications and interactions while ensuring each patient gets the right dose of the right medication at the right time.
• Infection prevention – St. Mary’s ongoing initiatives successfully reduce healthcare-acquired conditions such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line associated bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.
• Fall prevention – St. Mary’s has implemented a program for moving patients more safely. SMART Moves uses specialized lift equipment to protect patients from falls and reduce the risk of staff injuries.
• UV light disinfection – St. Mary’s uses the Clorox OptimumUV system to enhance disinfection of surgical suites and patient rooms. Combined with standard cleaning procedures, the system’s ultraviolet light kills 99.9 percent of germs – even those that are resistant to drugs and chemical controls.