'A' in hospital safety for University of Chicago Medicine

'A' in hospital safety for University of Chicago Medicine

April 29, 2014

University of Chicago Medicine once again received the top grade in hospital safety in the latest survey of more than 2,500 hospitals by The Leapfrog Group.

The Spring 2014 survey, released April 29, gave the University of Chicago Medical Center a Hospital Safety Score of "A." The medical center has received an "A" since the group began the safety survey in Spring 2012. It is one of only 251 hospitals nationwide top have earned an "A" in all five previous ratings surveys.

"Quality and safety is an ongoing mission at the University of Chicago Medicine, but it has been a particularly key element of our operating plan this past year," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, Dean and EVP for Medical Affairs and Sharon O'Keefe, UCMC president, in a memo to hospital leaders. "Our superior rating is a measure of the care and professionalism of our entire multidisciplinary clinical staff, from physicians to nurses to pharmacists."

The Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single "A," "B," "C," "D," or "F" score, representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm.

Leapfrog surveyed 2,523 U.S. general hospitals, and 804 were assigned an "A" grade, while 668 earned a "B" and 878 earned a grade of "C." Less than 1 percent of U.S. hospitals, or 23, received an "F."

"Safety should come first for our families when we pick a hospital, because errors and infections are common and deadly," said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which produces the Hospital Safety Score. "No hospital is perfect, but we congratulate the board, clinicians, administration, and staff of the University of Chicago Medical Center for achieving an "A" and showing us that you made the well-being of your patients your top priority."