The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, awarding A\u2019s to every eligible St. Luke\u2019s acute care hospital.<\/p>\n
The 11 campuses \u2013 Bethlehem, Allentown, Anderson, Carbon, Easton, Monroe, Miners, Sacred Heart, Upper Bucks and Warren, as well as Geisinger St. Luke\u2019s Hospital \u2013 were among a select group of hospitals across the nation awarded an A for their commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis rare achievement reflects St. Luke\u2019s commitment to extending the very best care to every patient at all of our locations throughout the entire region,\u201d says Donna Sabol, St. Luke\u2019s Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer.<\/p>\n
The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F twice annually \u2013 in the spring and fall \u2013 to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms.<\/p>\n
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only rating solely focused on a hospital\u2019s ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Developed under the guidance of a panel of national experts, it uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreventable deaths and harm in hospitals have been a major policy concern for decades,\u201d said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. \u201cSignificant variation in performance remains across U.S. hospitals. … All hospitals are not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
St Luke\u2019s high marks from Leapfrog echo the assessment in August by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS).<\/p>\n
In its annual quality and safety hospital review, CMS awarded 10 St. Luke\u2019s hospitals the highest possible quality rating of five stars. St. Luke\u2019s was the only health network in the Lehigh Valley to receive five-star ratings.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, an elite 8 percent of 4,658 eligible hospitals earned five stars. Remarkably, of Pennsylvania\u2019s 189 eligible hospitals, nearly half of the 21 that earned five stars were St. Luke\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cStraight A\u2019s and five stars \u2013 St. Luke\u2019s is the only health network in Lehigh Valley to ever receive such high marks from both CMS and Leapfrog,\u201d Sabol noted, \u201cand that is a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke\u2019s, a member of the Children\u2019s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.<\/p>\n SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s\u00a0five-star<\/em>\u00a0ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades\u00a0Top Hospital<\/em>\u00a0and a Newsweek World\u2019s\u00a0Best Hospital<\/em>.\u00a0 The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the\u00a0100 Top Major Teaching Hospital<\/em>\u00a0designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was identified as one of the\u00a015 Top Health Systems<\/em>\u00a0nationally.\u00a0 Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the\u00a0Most Wired<\/em>\u00a0award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0The Network is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest-cost providers.<\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, awarding A\u2019s to every eligible St. Luke\u2019s acute care hospital. The 11 campuses … Continue reading SLUHN Hospitals Earn Straight A\u2019s for Safety<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"