Blue Springs, MO – April 2, 2024 – St. Mary’s Medical Center, a member of Prime Healthcare, today announced that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places St. Mary’s Medical Center among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers.
“Through our 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We are proud to name St. Mary’s Medical Center as a 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a top priority.”
St. Mary’s Medical Center has now been recipient of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™ in seven consecutive years (2018-24) and top 5% in the nation for patient safety in four consecutive years (2021-24).
“St. Mary’s Medical Center is invested in clinical quality and offering top-quality patient care,” said Kelly Pearce, CEO, St. Mary’s Medical Center. “This distinction is the result of the contributions of all our staff, providers and leaders and we are honored to be recognized.”
If all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the 2023 Patient Safety Award recipients, on average, 95,880 patient safety events could have been avoided. *
During the 2019-2021 study period, 164,592 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. * Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in the hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades’ analysis also revealed that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:
- 4%% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 7% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 1% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 3% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*
Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2022.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
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About St. Mary’s Medical Center
St. Mary’s Medical Center, a faith-based hospital providing a wide range of services, is among an elite group of providers in treatment for time-critical diagnosis with award-winning care. These awards include recognition by The Joint Commission, Get with The Guidelines Primary Stroke Center, and a Certified STEMI Heart Attack Receiving Center. St. Mary’s Medical Center Breast Center is recognized by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and Breast Imaging Center. Our Emergency Department was the first in the Midwest to earn Health System Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) from the American College of Emergency Physicians.
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.