Kaiser Permanente Hospitals In Northern California And Elsewhere Are Among The Safest In The Nation

New report by The Leapfrog Group examines safety records of more than 2,600 hospitals around the country and assigns grades based on limiting injury and error

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Kaiser Permanente

Jun 07, 2012, 03:24 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifteen Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California were honored with an "A" Hospital Safety Score(SM) by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. They were among 28 Kaiser Permanente hospitals around the country that received the top grade in the safety report, which examined the records of more than 2,600 hospitals in the U.S. In Northern California, three other Kaiser Permanente hospitals received a "B" score, The Leapfrog Group's next highest mark.

The Hospital Safety Score(SM) was calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's Blue Ribbon Expert Panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. U.S. hospitals were assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for their safety.

"Kaiser Permanente is consistently recognized for providing high-quality health care and often cited for being a model for the future of health care," said Gregory Adams, president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals/Health Plan in Northern California. "Our physicians, nurses and staff work diligently to ensure our patients receive personalized, coordinated and technologically advanced health care, and we are having a positive and often life-changing impact on the health and well-being of our members and the communities we serve."

Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California with "A" scores were: Antioch, Fremont, Hayward, Manteca, Oakland, Redwood City, Roseville, Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South Sacramento, South San Francisco and Vallejo. Additionally, Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Fresno, San Rafael and Walnut Creek received "B" ratings.

"Our excellent ratings from Leapfrog and other third-party organizations reflect the superiority of our integrated model for medical care, which enables our medical group, hospitals and health plan to work together on behalf of our patients to achieve the highest quality outcomes," said Dr. Robert Pearl, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. "To provide superior medical treatment in the 21st century, you need the best physicians, the most advanced technology and excellence across all disciplines: primary care, specialty care, outpatient and inpatient care."

"It's The Leapfrog Group's goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "We congratulate the hospitals that earned an 'A' and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first."

To see all hospital scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, the Hospital Safety Score(SM) website, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay.

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

About The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

Contact:
Marc Brown, (510) 987-4672

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente