Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital named recipient of Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award

Phenix City, Alabama (April 21, 2017) – Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital announced today that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award, a designation that recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of  serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays. The distinction places Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

During the 2013-2015 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

  • 40.0% less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
  • 44.6% 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.
  • 54.4% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
  • 50.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.[1]

On average, 134,568 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals, as a group from 2013 to 2015, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 patient safety indicators evaluated by Healthgrades.

We are once again humbled to have achieved the Patient Safety Excellence Award for 2017, having earned this distinction 5 years in a row.   Earning this award in consecutive years is a tough achievement and a reflection of our exceptional staff and physicians and their ongoing commitment to quality outcomes and patient safety.

Our quality program is extremely integrated in our culture and all our processes within the hospital and this achievement is validation of the systems we have in place to ensure we have a safe environment for our patients.  I give credit to our remarkable employees who deserve this as well as our physicians all of whom are the real champions.  – Kurt E. Jacobson, MD, FACS, President of the Hughston Clinic and Quality Committee Chairman at Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital.

“Hospitals who have been recognized as Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients have minimized patient safety events and also surpassed expectations in preventing safety incidents,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals for their performance and for their organizational commitment to delivering high-quality care.”

During the study period (2013-2015), Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

For more information about Healthgrades or to download a full copy of the report, or to receive information about hospital and physician quality, visit: www.Healthgrades.com/quality today.

[1] Statistics are based on Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which includes application of AHRQ QI software to MedPAR data for years 2013 through 2015 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

Last edited on May 7, 2021