Healthgrades names West Valley 2022 Patient Safety Award™ recipient

West Valley Medical Center March 18, 2022

Healthgrades has recognized West Valley Medical Center as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places West Valley among the top ten percent of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers. West Valley was one of only two hospitals in Idaho to receive this award. This is also the fifth year in a row the hospital has earned the recognition.

“This award further illustrates our colleagues’ commitment to safety. Even in the midst of a pandemic, our team has surpassed incredible safety goals due in large part to their focus on daily tasks and protocols,” said Betsy Hunsicker, West Valley Medical Center Chief Executive Officer. “We are guided by a commitment to care like family and we are constantly looking for ways to do even more to serve our community.”

In terms of safety, West Valley has implemented many initiatives to improve quality and enhance patient satisfaction. These include: An aggressive process for early identification and treatment of severe infections proven to improve outcomes; a commitment to patient engagement by introducing patients to their care team and sharing information at bedside during shift changes and department transfers; and a daily safety huddle as well as weekly quality meetings to review day-to-day activities regarding current needs of patients and staff.

Other Healthgrades recognitions for West Valley in 2022 include:

Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack in 2022
Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Sepsis for 2 Years in a Row (2021-2022)

During the study period (2018 through 2020), 170,231 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals.* Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in-hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades also found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ were, on average:

55.8% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
52.6% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
66.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
65.8% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*

When it comes to choosing healthcare, quality saves lives, which is why Healthgrades is committed to delivering the most scientifically accurate and comprehensive information about doctors and hospitals — with data insights not available anywhere else. To that end, it's important for consumers to know that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the Healthgrades Patient Safety Award Recipients, on average, 100,189 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

“Through our 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We are proud to name West Valley Medical Center as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a priority.”

Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award™ methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2021.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2018 through 2020 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.