HERMITAGE, Tenn. (Oct. 29, 2015) — An announcement released nationally yesterday by the independent hospital watchdog The Leapfrog Group, shows key shifts among many hospitals on the A, B, C, D and F grades rating them on errors, injuries, accidents and infections. TriStar Summit Medical Center, a 200-bed hospital in Hermitage, earned an A in this elite national ratings program, recognizing its strong commitment to patient safety.
“We’re happy to be recognized as a Middle Tennessee leader in patient safety. Our physicians, staff and volunteers work tirelessly to provide our patients with the best care possible,” said TriStar Summit CEO Jeff Whitehorn. “We are pleased the community has this type of data available to help them make informed decisions about who they trust for their healthcare needs.”
TriStar Summit was one of five TriStar Health hospitals earning an A grade, along with TriStar Centennial, TriStar Skyline, TriStar Southern Hills and TriStar StoneCrest medical centers.
The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
“TriStar Summit’s A grade is a powerful reminder of its commitment to putting patient safety above all else, and we are pleased to recognize the persistent efforts of your clinicians and staff to protect your patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “Our families, neighbors, colleagues and friends deserve a hospital that will pull out all the stops to keep them safe, and we urge TriStar (facility) and all other A hospitals to preserve and renew your commitment to safety year after year.”
Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.
To see TriStar Summit’s full score, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyScore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Hospital Safety Score mobile app for Apple and Android devices.