Southern Tennessee Regional Health Pulaski announced today that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award^TM. This distinction places Southern Tennessee Regional Health Pulaski among the top 10% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

During the study period (2016 through 2018), Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safeguarding patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes—risk-adjusted patient safety indicator (PSI) rates—for 13 PSIs defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A 14^th PSI included in the evaluation is Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure which is a “never” event and does not have an expected rate.

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:

• 48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

• 54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

• 66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

• 63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals.

  In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

  “Patient safety and workplace culture is the one thing that we consistently focus on here at our hospital,” said hospital CEO, Jim Edmondson.  “We are blessed to have been bestowed the blessing of safety and preventable harms reduction.  It is what sets apart from so many other hospitals and the secret to our success.”

  “Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”

  “Our company Mission Statement, Making Communities Healthier, is more than words,” continued Edmondson.  “Our patient safety results are entirely attributed to following the road map our company, LifePoint Health, has laid before us.  Through the execution of our company’s Foundational Five and the acute oversight from the top of LifePoint, we are expected to provide the best for our community.”

   

  View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.

  *Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2019.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.