Medical centers receive Leapfrog’s Annual Patient Safety Recognition
Alpena, Midland centers received ‘A’ grades from watchdog agency
Midmichigan Health’s Medical Centers recently received annual safety grades and recognition from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety.
According to a press release from Midmichigan Health, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization that was founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers and is driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the
highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information, they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
For the Fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Midmichigan Medical Centers in both Alpena and Midland received ‘A’ grades; Midmichigan Medical Center – Gratiot a ‘ B,’ and the Medical Center in West Branch a ‘C.’ MidMichigan Medical Centers in Clare and Gladwin are not graded as they do not
meet volume thresholds for scoring or are critical access hospitals. The Safety Grade is a letter grade assigned to all general hospitals across the country and updated every six months, each fall and again every spring, assessing how well the hospital prevents medical errors and other harms to patients.
In addition to the Fall grades, Midmichigan Medical Centers in Clare and Gladwin were two of 19 hospitals nationwide to be named a Leapfrog Top Rural Hospitals for 2020. To qualify for the Top Rural Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in its category. The standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital
Methodology.
“This year, the recognitions from Leapfrog have a special meaning to all of us here at Midmichigan Health as our teams across the system have and continue to encounter so many challenges in the face the COVID- 19 pandemic,” said Diane Postler- Slattery, PH,D., FACHE, president and CEO, Midmichigan Health. “While we, like the rest of the globe, experience the ebbs and flows that COVID-19 has caused, our work and focus on patient safety and quality remain our top priority. It’s a commitment we look at each and every day and we won’t let up on it no matter what’s in front of us.”
With quality and patient experience an ongoing focus at Midmichigan Health, all areas of care are reviewed daily for opportunities for improvement. According to the Leapfrog
safety survey, since the spring 2020 grading period, several areas of progress have been made across Midmichigan Health Medical Centers. These include improvements in patient experience scores and infection rates, and reductions in pressure ulcers and surgery-related complications.
“Each scoring period we learn through Leapfrog how our performance compares to the best in the nation,” said Postler- Slattery. “Our efforts for improvement results in better outcomes for our patients which shows by our improving Leapfrog performance.”
Those interested in viewing the full Leapfrog grades may visit www. hospitalsafetygrade.org. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2020 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup. org/tophospitals.