PIH Health Achieves Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award™

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Three PIH Health Hospitals in the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety

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May 11, 2021, 14:36 ET

WHITTIER, Calif., May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PIH Health Downey Hospital, PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, and PIH Health Whittier Hospital have been recognized as a Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places PIH Health among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers.

"Patient safety is always our top priority," says James R. West, PIH Health president and chief executive officer. "Working together to face the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought about this last year has bolstered our commitment to our patients and communities, and we have focused even more attention on safety within all of our facilities. We are honored to be recognized for our commitment to our patients' safety and well-being and attribute this award to the unwavering dedication of all our employees, medical staff, and volunteers."

From 2017 through 2019, there were 190,273 potentially preventable patient safety events among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals.* And, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) evaluated by Healthgrades, on average, 106,052 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

During this time frame, four patient safety indicators accounted for 72% of all patient safety events (collapsed lung, hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, pressure or bed sores, and catheter-related bloodstream infections). Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:

50.3% 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*
60.3% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
66.5% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
65.4% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals*

"The importance of hospital quality is now at the forefront of consumers' minds, especially as we continue to navigate COVID-19. We congratulate the recipients of the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their ongoing commitment to upholding the highest quality standards for their patients and communities," said Brad Bowman MD, Healthgrades chief medical officer.

PIH Health participates in safety best practices across all of our hospitals and outpatient medical offices. Employees are regularly engaged in important discussions about the safety initiatives already in place in PIH Health facilities, and, together with leadership, continuously work to see where enhancements can be made to improve upon patient safety.

During the study period (2017 through 2019), Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in patient safety within the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes—risk-adjusted patient safety indicator (PSI) rates—for 13 PSIs defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A 14^th PSI is included in the evaluation - Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure – which is a "never" event and does not have an expected rate.

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 2020.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2017 through 2019 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

About PIH Health
PIH Health is a nonprofit, regional healthcare network that serves approximately 3.7 million residents in the Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Gabriel Valley region. The fully integrated network is comprised of PIH Health Downey Hospital, PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, PIH Health Whittier Hospital, 35 outpatient medical office buildings, a multispecialty medical (physician) group, home healthcare services and hospice care, as well as heart, cancer, digestive health, orthopedics, women's health, urgent care and emergency services. The organization is recognized by Watson Health as one of the nation's Top Hospitals, and College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) as one of the nation's top hospital systems for best practices, cutting-edge advancements, quality of care and healthcare technology. PIH Health is also certified as a Great Place to Work®. For more information, visit PIHHealth.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

SOURCE PIH Health