Alvarado Hospital is the only hospital in the city of San Diego to garner the Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award™, putting it in the top 5% in the nation for patient safety. This is the third year Alvarado has achieved this designation.
The Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays, according to Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.
“At Alvarado, we are committed to patient safety at every level and this recognition is a testament to our team’s dedication to keeping our patients safe,” said Robin Gomez, Alvarado Hospital CEO. “We are proud to provide this superior level of safety to San Diegans.”
During the 2013-2015 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:
- 40.0% less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 44.6% 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% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 50.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
“Part of our annual performance improvement is to have each department come up with patient-safety goals that they are held accountable for,” said Sacha Ridgway, interim performance improvement director. “Since implementing this, we have ranked in the top 5% in the nation for patient safety.”
“Hospitals who have been recognized as Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients have minimized patient safety events and surpassed expectations in preventing safety incidents,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals for their performance and for their organizational commitment to delivering high-quality care.”
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.
During the study period (2013-2015), 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).
For more information about Healthgrades or to download a full copy of the report, or to receive information about hospital and physician quality, visit the Healthgrades website.