The Importance of Patient Safety

With 1 in 25 patients obtaining a preventable hospital acquired infection, Michigan residents deserve to know which hospitals are safe and which ones need improvement. Transparency of hospital safety and quality care leads to higher patient safety, hospital improvements and lower health care costs.

For employers, preventable hospital acquired conditions can become very costly. When an employee experiences a hospital acquired condition, he or she is more likely to spend additional days in the hospital, which leads to increased costs and missed days at work.

What price do employers pay? Find out how many lives and dollars are at risk for your company by using The Leapfrog Group’s Lives & Dollars Lost Calculator.

The Leapfrog Group

In 2014, EAM was selected by The Leapfrog Group as their Regional Leader for Michigan, to lead the effort to promote and implement quality and safe practices in all Michigan health care facilities.

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.

Annually, The Leapfrog Group issues several reports on various hospital patient safety items such as medication safety and maternity care. CLICK HERE to review reports on hospital performance.

How Safe is Your Hospital?

Hospital Safety Grade issues a spring and fall report card for hospitals in the United States, giving hospitals A, B, C, D or F grades for safety. Why is this important? Researchers assessed more than 2,600 hospitals receiving Hospital Safety Grades and found that when compared to “A” hospitals:

• Patients at “D” and “F” hospitals face a 92% greater risk of avoidable death
• Patients at “C” hospitals on average face an 88% greater risk of avoidable death
• Patients at “B” hospitals on average face a 35% greater risk of avoidable death

CLICK HERE to find out how your hospital scored and for more information on choosing the right hospital.