West Jefferson Medical Center Receives Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award

West Jefferson Medical Center (WJMC) is proud to announce it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award™, a designation that recognizes superior performance of hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays. WJMC is one of only three hospitals in the state of Louisiana to achieve the Patient Safety Excellence Award™ for three consecutive years.

This distinction places WJMC among the top 10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

During the 2014 to 2016 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

• 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
• 52.4 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
• 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
• 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*

During the study period (2014 to 2016), Healthgrades 2018 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).

If all hospitals achieved the average performance of award recipients for each of the 13 Patient Safety Indicators evaluated, during the 2014 to 2016 study period, 126,342 patient safety events could have been avoided.

“This achievement is a result of the outstanding care and focus our healthcare team places on patient safety every day,” said Nancy R. Cassagne, President and CEO of West Jefferson Medical Center. “When patients come to our hospital for care, they know they are receiving the highest quality care in a safe environment close to home. Treating each patient with the best care possible is always our number one priority at West Jefferson Medical Center.”

“We applaud the hospitals who have received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “Their dedication and commitment to providing safe care creates tangible results for patients.”

View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.

Access the recently released Patient Sentiment Report from Healthgrades and MGMA, which analyzed nearly 7 million online patient reviews and reveals what patients say about their physicians.

*Statistics are based on Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology, which is primarily constructed using AHRQ Technical Specifications version 5E applied to MedPAR data for years 2014 through 2016 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.