FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lower Bucks Hospital Achieves Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM
Lower Bucks Hospital Ranked Among Top 10% in the Nation for Patient Safety
Bristol, PA (May 11, 2021)– Lower Bucks Hospital, a member of Prime Healthcare, announced today that it has been recognized as a Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM recipient. This distinction places the hospital among the top 10% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers. Prime Healthcare has more Patient Safety Award recipient hospitals than any health system nationwide for six consecutive years(2016-2021).
From 2017 through 2019, there were 190,273 potentially preventable patient safety events among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals.* And, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) evaluated by Healthgrades, on average, 106,052 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
“The importance of hospital quality is now at the forefront of consumers’ minds, especially as we continue to navigate COVID-19. We congratulate the recipients of the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their ongoing commitment to upholding the highest quality standards for their patients and communities,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades.
During this timeframe, four patient safety indicators accounted for 72% of all patient safety events (collapsed lung, hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, pressure or bed sores and catheter-related bloodstream infections). Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:
- 50.3% 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.*
- 60.3% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*
- 66.5% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*
- 65.4% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals.*
Lower Bucks Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Lea Rodriguez said, “The Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award reinforces our team’s hard work and commitment to excellence .Achieving the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award is the result of an intense focus on quality from every member of our patients’ care team. I’m very proud of our physicians, nurses and clinicians for their daily commitment to providing the best care for every patient.”
Lower Bucks Hospital has received numerous awards and recognitions. Some of their Quality Achievements include:
- Accreditation from The Joint Commission
- American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for quality of Stroke Care Award, (2018-2020)
- Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award 2020
- American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association Stroke Silver Plus Award 2018
- Healthgrades Five-Star Recipient for Appendectomy, (2015-2021)
- Healthgrades Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Sepsis, (2018-2021)
- Healthgrades Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia in 2019
- Recipient of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, (2018-2020)
- Named Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Patient Safety, (2018 & 2021)
- Names Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety, 2019
- Corazon, Inc. the cardiovascular specialty accreditation to the PCI program, (2019 & 2020)
- Imaging services accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR)
- American Heart Association Award Type 2 Honor Roll Award, 2020
During the study period (2017 through 2019), Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in patient safety within 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 14th PSI is included in the evaluation – Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure – which is a “never” event and does not have an expected rate.
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 2020.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2017 through 2019 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
About Lower Bucks Hospital: Lower Bucks Hospital is a community hospital, serving the Lower Bucks County region with medical, surgical, and emergency care. Located in historic Bristol, Pennsylvania, the Hospital is well-known for its knowledgeable medical staff, including cardiology, orthopedics, radiology, wound care, and general surgery. The hospital has more than 200 physicians on staff, as well as another 700 employees. As part of Prime Healthcare Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, Lower Bucks Hospital is focused on becoming one of the leaders in technology. Prime Healthcare is an award-winning hospital management company operating 46 acute care hospitals in 14 states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, and Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County.