Spectrum Health Hospitals Rank High in Safety Scores

Leapfrog Group Reports Latest Scores

May 12, 2016

Spectrum Health hospitals ranked very well in the latest quality rankings issued by The Leapfrog Group.

The Leapfrog Group Spring 2016 Hospital Safety Score update assigned letter grades to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals, assessing medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections.

Spectrum Health hospitals ranked as follows:

Big Rapids Hospital – A
Blodgett Hospital – A
Butterworth Hospital – A
Ludington Hospital – A
Pennock Hospital – C
United Hospital – B

“We are very proud of this public recognition of Spectrum Health’s deep commitment to patient safety and high quality outcomes,” said J. Michael Kramer, MD, MBA, senior vice president and chief quality officer for Spectrum Health. “Our employees work daily to support practices to keep patients safe. The health and safety of each and every patient is the primary focus of all that we do.”

Leapfrog does not provide grades for critical access hospitals so Spectrum Health’s Gerber, Reed City and Kelsey hospitals did not receive a grade. Leapfrog also does not provide grades for hospitals with a low volume of patients in the five areas they use to calculate a grade, such as Zeeland Hospital. The low volumes do not allow for an accurate calculation based on Leapfrog’s methodology.

“Pennock Hospital joined Spectrum Health during the survey period when several of our safety policies and reporting procedures were not in place,” said Dr. Kramer. “We are working with that team to ensure all system policies and reporting mechanisms are in place and anticipate that their score will improve in future surveys.”

According to Leapfrog, the April 2016 update highlights newly-added patient experience measures shown in the research to have a relationship to improved patient safety outcomes. These include results of patient surveys about: communication about medicines, communication about discharge, nurse communication, doctor communication and responsiveness of hospital staff.

Of the 2,571 hospitals issued a Hospital Safety Score, 798 earned an A, 639 earned a B, 957 earned a C, 162 earned a D and 15 earned an F.

For more information about the Hospital Safety Score or to view the list of state rankings, please visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

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About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. Hospital Safety Score, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

About Spectrum Health
Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 12 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 178 ambulatory and service sites; more than 3,400 physicians and advanced practice providers, including about 1,400 members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a health plan with about 721,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer, with 24,300 employees. The organization provided $283 million in community benefit during its 2015 fiscal year. Spectrum Health was named one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems—and in the top five among the largest health systems—by Truven Health Analytics™ for 2016. This is the fifth time the organization has received this recognition.

Contact:
Sarina Gleason
Media Relations
Phone: 517.256.5618
Email: sarina.gleason@corewellhealth.org