Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Digital Health
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Unwell in America
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Safety & Quality
April 29, 2021 05:18 PM

One-third of participating hospitals score an 'A' in Leapfrog's new hospital safety scores

Lisa Gillespie
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Getty Images

    St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, hasn't always had the best Leapfrog Group safety grades. The 213-bed acute care hospital up until 2016 pulled in B's, and in one particularly bad year, D's.

    Hospital leadership took a hard look at each measure, and they went to work. Five years in a row, they've received an "A."

    "You get ranked by Leapfrog, Healthgrades, IBM Watson, CMS, all these external organizations, and you need to understand why you score the way you do," said Dr. Bart Hill, vice president and chief quality officer of St. Luke's Health System.

    This year, 33% of 2,700 hospitals received an 'A' from healthcare watchdog Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Group scored 24% of hospitals with a "B," 35% received a "C," 7% received a "D" and 1% received an "F." The group uses up to 27 performance measures to grade how safe a hospital is.

    The state of Idaho had the second highest percentage of hospitals graded with an "A" following behind Massachusetts.

    The two states couldn't be much different: Idaho ranked second to last in the country for the number of physicians per capita in 2018, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Massachusetts, meanwhile, came in first.

    "Those disparities in resources makes it (the state score) surprising," said Dr. Joshua Kern, chief medical officer at St. Luke's Magic Valley. "But this just shows, if you put an emphasis on results, even if you don't have resources, you can make the make the needle move."

    Some of the raise in Magic Valley's scores were from investing in technology, like an EHR that was implemented in 2016 that enabled computerized prescription order entry. They also targeted surgical site infections, which were high. Almita Nunnelee, who was the the senior quality director for Magic Valley at that time, helped collaborate with surgeons to figure out that the problem was generating from colon surgeries, where some portion of the colon would be removed and two ends are graphed together. Without the perfect seal, bowel material can leak into the stomach and cause sepsis.

    "With physician engagement, we leveraged infrared technology to take a look at that joint junction after they've repaired it," Nunnelee said. "The physicians were hungry for that information. They wanted to know how they were performing, they're very competitive, nevermind wanting to do the right thing."

    The hospital implemented team training that's resulted in fewer errors and higher employee engagement. Physicians in the emergency department call out orders to other staff, which are then verbally repeated back to ensure accuracy. They've also used a manual tool to track handwashing, another measure from Leapfrog. Employees take five observations each week of whether doctors and others wash hands before interacting with patients, a lower-cost solution than investing in sink technology.

    Most organizations have noted that it's more efficient and less costly when quality is made a priority, both for the organization and for the payers, Hill said.

    "That being said, you can go bankrupt trying to drive quality with everything," Hill said. "Nurses and doctors typically are showing up trying to do the right things, it's just different pressures or different emphasis being placed on them that that keeps them from doing the right thing."

    About three hours east of Magic Valley is Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. The 205-bed acute care hospital has received two 'B's in a row this year and for last fall, followed by almost four years of 'C's.

    They focused on improving their lowest measures, which included prescription barcode administration. Every time a nurse gives a patient medication, they now have to scan the barcode into the EHR.

    "It's definitely a safety issue. Let's say the patient was on an order of 10 mg, but you give them 100 mg without doing the scanning, you end up giving the wrong amount," which can lead to bad outcomes, said Jordan Herget, Portneuf CEO.

    Portneuf tied the barcode scan into nurses' annual performance reviews, and the hospital went from 30% of medications being scanned to close to 100%. Herget also said they targeted bad outcomes with central line associated blood stream infections, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections by using checklists of around 30 things nurses and doctors needed to do to prevent infections. Without the checklist, care can get missed. The whole endeavor has taken buy-in from all clinical staff, but also from leadership.

    "Leadership also has to invest resources and put the tools in place that allow improvements to be sustained," Herget said, and added that they're using a new EHR that will enable computerized physician order entries, another Leapfrog measurement.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Ecri kids main mental health STATIC
    Pediatric mental health, workplace violence are top 2023 safety concerns: ECRI
    A patient safety student with the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine vaccinates a patient.
    Patient safety courses a tough sell at medical schools
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Digital Health
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Unwell in America
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing