Houston Medical Center Recognized Nationally For Patient Safety
Houston Medical Center has been awarded the HealthGrades® 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety™, one of only 242 hospitals throughout the nation who received this award, comprising five percent of hospitals in the nation.
The nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company, HealthGrades®, provides objective clinical quality ratings based on the outcomes of nearly every hospital in the country. These ratings are risk adjusted to account for differences in providers’ patient populations and are currently based on CMS Medicare data from 2002-2004.
To be ranked in overall patient-safety performance, hospitals had to be rated in at least 19 of the 28 procedures and diagnoses rated by HealthGrades®, and have a current overall HealthGrades® star rating of at least 2.5 out of 5.0. Using the patient outcomes data obtained from Medicare, the company ranks each hospital based on their performance on 13 of the 20 patient safety indicators identified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as directly related to patient safety.
“The Patient Safety award is a testament to the strong culture of exceptional care that this organization possesses,” stated Megan Laire, a representative with HealthGrades, in presenting the award to Houston Medical. “It is hard work and dedication to patients, with a strong focus on patient safety, that result in this distinction.”
“We are pleased to be a recipient of the HealthGrades® 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety™. This award, presented by a national, independent firm, validates that the initiatives and efforts undertaken each day by our staff and our physicians create a safe hospital environment for our community, as we strive to provide quality medical care,” said Dr. Tony Alford, CEO of Houston Healthcare. “We are pleased our efforts are being recognized by the healthcare industry and community.”