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Mostly Cloudy NUMC gets 'A' in patient safety
Survey done by group that evaluates quality-of-care
The Nassau University Medical Center has received the top rating in a quality-of-care survey conducted by the Leapfrog Group, an organization that evaluates how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, injuries, errors and infections, while encouraging transparency and access to health care information.
The survey was created in 2001 in response to a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, which said that 98,000 Americans die annually from preventable medical errors made in hospitals. Grades are distributed based on publicly available data on a scale from A to F. It is conducted twice a year, in the fall and spring.
The NUMC was one of three Nassau County Hospitals that received an ‘A’ safety score. The Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre and St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn were also given the top grade.
Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola was awarded a B. South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside received a C. Only two of the 15 hospitals in the North Shore-LIH Health System participated in the survey — its Glen Cove facility and Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream — each receiving a C.
The safety score uses self-reported data in its twice-annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey, as well as performance measures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey and Health Information Technology Supplement.
The score includes 28 measures, including appropriate staffing, prevention of medication errors, performance in maternity care and high-risk surgeries, and prevention of hospital-acquired illnesses.
Leapfrog assigned hospital safety to more than 2,500 hospitals across the nation, 782 of which earned an A grade — or 21 percent — 719 a B grade, 859 a C grade, 143 a D grade and 20 an F grade.
