Caldwell – West Valley Medical Center has received a third consecutive Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. This distinction places West Valley among the top 10% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.
"Patients are our first priority at West Valley. We are proud of this award because it highlights our focus and commitment to patient safety and the well-being of all who enter our hospital," said Betsy Hunsicker, West Valley Medical Center Chief Executive Officer.
"We are proud to recognize the recipients of the 2019 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, which shines a spotlight on the hospitals that are preventing the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications, for patients during their hospital stay," said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. "We applaud these hospitals and their commitment to providing the best possible care for every patient."
During the study period (2015 to 2017), Healthgrades 2019 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 14 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipients hospitals, on average*:
- 55.9% less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care.
- 50.9% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.
- 64.4% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.
- 57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.
In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 14 Patient Safety Indicators, 127,667 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
West Valley has implemented initiatives to improve quality and enhance patient satisfaction including: 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 a weekly quality meetings to review day-to-day activities regarding current needs of patients and staff.
View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 5e and 2018) to MedPAR data for years 2015 through 2017 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.