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How safe is your hospital? Watchdog group releases grades - 7 A's and 2 F's

By Amy Yurkanin | ayurkanin@al.com AL.com

series /series Aka Story Package gallery-preview /gallery-preview Aka Secondary Package Safety at Alabama hospitals ranks pretty low compared to the rest of the country, according to the latest assessment by the Leapfrog Group, a watchdog organization that evaluates hospitals on behalf of large employers.

The state ranked 35th out of 50 states and districts. Five states and the District of Columbia tied for last place on the list. Maryland was not ranked because hospitals there are not required to publicly report their safety data, according to Leapfrog Group.

Even though Alabama scored relatively low, seven hospitals in the state received A ratings for safety. In the Birmingham area, Brookwood Medical Center and Walker Baptist Medical Center received the highest score.

Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery also received an A, along with DeKalb Regional Medical Center, Medical Center Enterprise, Providence Hospital in Mobile and Russellville Hospital.

Two Alabama hospitals received F grades: Riverview Regional Medical Center in Gadsden and Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan.

Leapfrog Group grades hospitals based on 28 different factors, which measure how well hospitals prevent accidents, injuries, infections and errors. Leapfrog uses information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and hospital surveys to generate scores

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In a response to its F score, Southeast Alabama Medical Center cited those surveys as the reason for its low grade.

"This year, Southeast Alabama Medical Center was one of only eight hospitals in the state that chose to participate fully in the Leapfrog survey," wrote spokeswoman Claudia Hall in an email. "The decision to participate was intentional so we could learn from the Leapfrog survey process. Completing the voluntary section of the survey adversely impacted the overall score, but provided us valuable insight that will help our quality program in the future.

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Hall wrote that the hospital has already implemented several practices to improve safety. Staff members meet daily to discuss safety issues, the hospital has added care coordinators and conducted training programs on hospital-acquired infections, she wrote.

Hospital officials also have plans to launch an intensivist program to improve care in the intensive care unit, she wrote.

Officials from Riverview Regional Medical Center have not yet responded to questions about that hospital's F grade.

Leapfrog releases grades in the spring and the fall. Southeast Alabama Medical Center has received mostly C grades since 2012. Riverview Regional Medical Center received A grades in 2012 and 2013, and C grades in 2014 and the spring of 2015.

Walker Baptist Medical Center and Medical Center Enterprise are straight A hospitals, with consistently high safety ratings that go back to 2012.


 
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