The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, again 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. All 11 also earned A\u2019s last fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Luke\u2019s consistent, across-the-board excellence reflects the commitment of our doctors, nurses and other staff to extending the very best care to each and every patient at all of our locations,\u201d said 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, the program, which is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public, uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cAchieving an \u2018A\u2019 Hospital Safety Grade reflects enormous dedication to patient safety,\u201d said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. \u201cI extend my congratulations to St. Luke\u2019s, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for creating a culture where patients come first.\u201d<\/p>\n
St Luke\u2019s high marks from Leapfrog echo those of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). In its most recent 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
\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 noted Sabol, who on Wednesday spoke at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health conference on the subject of St. Luke\u2019s remarkable Leapfrog grades and other quality and safety achievements.<\/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 21,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $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. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus. 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, established 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 five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. St. Luke\u2019s is a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in\u00a02021 when it was identified as\u00a0THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was also identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, again awarding A\u2019s to every eligible St. Luke\u2019s acute care hospital. The 11 … Continue reading SLUHN Hospitals Again Earn Straight A Grades for Safety<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"