Healthgrades Announces 2024 Top Hospitals in Patient Experience and Patient Safety

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Mar 12, 2024, 06:10 ET

Healthgrades is proud to recognize outstanding achievements in patient care.

DENVER, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use when searching for a doctor or hospital, today announced the recipients of two hospital quality awards. The 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recognizes hospitals nationwide that provide quality care while preventing serious safety events during hospital stays, and the 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ celebrates hospitals delivering best-in-class patient experiences. Only 79 hospitals received both Patient Safety and Outstanding Experience awards.

"As consumers take a more hands-on approach to their healthcare journeys, hospital quality should be a top consideration when choosing where to receive care," said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades. "Our goal at Healthgrades is to offer direct, data-driven insights on the hospitals that make the safety and experience of their patients a top priority and consistently deliver exceptional results in this aspect of care. With this information, consumers can feel confident they're making the most informed decisions about their healthcare."

Patient Safety Excellence Award™

The Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award recognizes 444 hospitals (the top 10% of evaluated hospitals) that excel in providing top-quality patient care while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays. Hospitals could have avoided over 97,000 patient safety events between 2020 and 2022 if they all performed similarly to the 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award winners. This award is based on an analysis of inpatient MedPAR data that measures clinical performance across 13 patient safety indicators (PSI), with each PSI representing a serious, potentially preventable complication.*

From 2020 to 2022, four PSIs accounted for nearly 75% of all patient safety events: in-hospital falls resulting in fracture, collapsed lung due to procedure or surgery in or around the chest, pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections. Healthgrades' analysis revealed that patients treated at recipient hospitals are less likely to experience the following safety events compared to patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

In-hospital fall resulting in fracture (approximately 52% less likely)
Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 56% less likely)
Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 67% less likely)
Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (approximately 71% less likely)

Outstanding Patient Experience Award™

For this annual analysis, Healthgrades evaluated Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient survey data for ten patient experience measures to identify the institutions displaying an unwavering commitment to prioritizing positive patient experience during a short-term, acute care visit.^† The 388 award recipients in 2024 are among the top 15% of eligible U.S. hospitals that provided best-in-class patient experience during the January 2022 to December 2022 study period.

Based on this analysis, Healthgrades identified three patient experience ratings that best predict whether a patient will recommend a hospital to friends and family:

Doctor communication
Nurse communication
Clear communication about care when discharged

Consumers are increasingly considering data-driven resources to assess hospitals and choose their preferred healthcare facility. In fact, a recent Healthgrades study reveals that 80% agree that knowing their hospital has a quality award in their procedure or condition makes them feel more confident that it is a good choice for themselves and their loved ones. Through hospital ratings and awards, Healthgrades makes it easier for quality-conscious patients to find and select a hospital based on objective, reliable clinical performance measures.

View the full Patient Safety Excellence Award and Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipient lists on healthgrades.com. See the complete award methodologies for more information on how Healthgrades rates hospital quality.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2023.0.1) to MedPAR data from approximately 4,500 hospitals for years 2020 through 2022 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. To be eligible for the award, hospitals must meet certain clinical quality thresholds, have zero instances in which a foreign object was left behind during a procedure, and have data on at least seven out of eight core PSIs.

^†Healthgrades evaluated 2,575 hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from January 2022 to December 2022. Hospitals in the bottom 20% for overall clinical quality were excluded from consideration. See the complete Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award methodology for additional details.

About Healthgrades

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content.

Our health system, large group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years.

Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy and Platejoy which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. Each month, RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives.

SOURCE Healthgrades