Four area hospitals earn high safety scores

Four area hospitals have earned an “A” level Hospital Safety Score from The Leapfrog Group.

Mercy Hospital Springfield, Mercy Hospital Lebanon, Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson and Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar were among 17 out of 60 surveyed hospitals in the state to receive an “A” grade. CoxHealth and Freeman Health System in Joplin both received a “C” grade based on the same scale.

“This latest honor is the result of the excellent work each Mercy co-worker invests in our ministry each day,” said Jon Swope, president and CEO of Mercy Springfield Communities, in a news release. “We will not rest as we strive to bring even better care to our patients in the future.”

The Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a grade that reflects a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe. Areas surveyed include computerized physician order entry, intensive care unit physician staffing, safety practices, surgical care improvement projects, patient outcomes, hospital acquired conditions and patient safety indicators, according to HospitalSafetyScore.org.

Founded more than a decade ago by private health care professionals, The Leapfrog Group is an independent, national nonprofit association that aims to move forward in “safety, quality and affordability of health care in the U.S. by promoting transparency and value-based hospital incentives,” according to its website.