When it comes to delivering safe and effective patient care, Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton is one of the top in the nation, according to new ratings from The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog organization.
The new Hospital Safety Scores — which assign A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals nationwide — provide a complete picture of patient safety in the U.S. health care system. Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton was one of 798 hospitals in the nation — and one of only 17 hospitals in Georgia — to receive an A, ranking among the safest hospitals in the United States.
“Avoidable deaths in hospitals should be the number one concern of our health care leaders,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ from Leapfrog are leaders in saving lives, and we commend them and urge their continued vigilance.”
Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton also earned an A rating in 2012, 2013, 2014 and, when the firm began issuing ratings twice a year, Spring 2015. The health system’s other acute care hospital, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, did not have sufficient volumes to rate on The Leapfrog Group’s analysis. Critical access hospitals, like Higgins General Hospital in Bremen, also were excluded from analysis.
“This is another metric that consumers can use to make an informed decision on where they will receive care,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System. “All hospitals are not the same, and this continues to demonstrate that the care patients receive at Tanner is second to none.”
The health system also was recently named one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation by Truven Health Analytics — the fourth time in five years the health system has earned the honor.
Developed under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
For the first time, the Hospital Safety Score includes five measures of patient-reported experience with the hospital as well as two of the most common infections, C.diff and MRSA. To see Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton’s full score and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.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.
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, The Leapfrog Group’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.