St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, part of the Athens-based St. Mary’s Health Care System, has been named a recipient of the Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award.

The designation recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays.

The distinction places St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital among the top 5 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare. Sacred Heart received the award for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital has received the award three years in a row, and is the only hospital in northeast Georgia to be named among the top 5 percent in the nation for Patient Safety for two consecutive years, in 2016 and again this year.

During the 2013-15 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average, 40 percent less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals; 44.6 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals; 54.4 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals, and 50.2 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

On average, 134,568 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals, as a group from 2013 to 2015, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 patient safety indicators evaluated by Healthgrades.

“Patient safety is our top priority,” said Jeff English, president of St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital. “Our staff and medical staff work hard to implement and maintain best practices for clinical quality, patient safety and patient experience. Keeping ahead of changes in our fast-paced industry requires a rigorous continuous improvement process. We are deeply honored that our efforts have been recognized by Healthgrades as among the best in the nation.”

“Hospitals who have been recognized as Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients have minimized patient safety events and also surpassed expectations in preventing safety incidents,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer for Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals for their performance and for their organizational commitment to delivering high-quality care.”

During the study period (2013-15), Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided 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).