Sinotte

MARQUETTE — The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C.-based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for patients, released its new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report today. After receiving grades on the lower end of the scale for several years, UP Health System-Marquette earned an “A” for data reported in its spring 2018 survey.

The report uses 27 measures of available hospital data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The grade indicates how safe general acute care hospitals are for patients and assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals based on their performances in preventing medical errors, infections and other harmful situations among patients in their care.

UPHS-Marquette is one of 750 hospitals given an “A” in the country. Since 2015, the hospital has obtained either a “C” or “D.”

“At UPHS-Marquette, quality care and patient safety are a way of life and top priority for everyone on our team,” said Brian Sinotte, market president for UP Health System, in a release. “I’m very proud of our team’s unwavering commitment to quality and safety and how so many have come together to look for new ways to improve the care we provide. While we see the impact of our quality initiatives in real time every day, it is nice to see our progress recognized through national grading systems as well.”

According to the report, UPHS-Marquette excels at handling infections, surgery, safety problems and practices to prevent errors.

But the report also shows negative marks in regards to communication with doctors and nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, patient falls and handling collapsed lungs.

Although The Leapfrog Group gives hospitals grades based on data collected from surveys, the organization also randomly selects hospitals to submit documentation to verify the accuracy of responses from several sections of the survey, including maternity care, intensive care unit physician staffing, safety practices, managing serious errors and others. Hospitals must respond to the documentation request within 30 days or risk having the section decertified, according to the survey’s website.

“With more than 200,000 people dying due to errors in hospitals every year, communities must be vigilant in monitoring the safety records of their local facilities,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a release. “The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade helps shed light on those hospitals in need of improvement, while also highlighting the safer facilities, to make it easy for patients to choose the best option for their care.”

Patient safety among Michigan hospitals is improving, according to the Economic Alliance for Michigan. Currently, Michigan ranks 24th in the country for percentage of “A” hospitals, whereas last fall the state was 36th. In Michigan, along with the 23 hospitals receiving an “A,” 24 earned a “B,” 24 earned a “C,” four hospitals received a “D” and one hospital recorded an “F.”

“Thank you to all the ‘A’ hospitals in Michigan for providing excellent patient safety and quality of care and thank you to the hospitals who provide transparency by participating in the annual Leapfrog survey,” Bret Jackson, EAM president, said in a release. “There is a lot more work to be done in Michigan for improving patient safety and the EAM is committed to making that happen. Our goal is for Michigan to be number one in the country for the percentage of ‘A’ hospitals.”

According to the Leapfrog website, hospitals that voluntarily submit data to the Leapfrog survey are to be commended for their commitment to transparency and educating their patients about the quality and safety of the care they provide. Patients should be concerned if they see their local hospital has declined to respond to the survey and is withholding critical information from their community that is available nowhere else, the website states.

“We are proud of this recognition from The Leapfrog Group,” Dr. John Bartlett, board president for UPHS-Marquette, said in a release. “The UPHS-Marquette team has always been driven to provide high-quality care, and constantly strives to enhance patient safety and service. This ‘A’ grade underscores that the hospital is among the top performers in the nation. Our patients can be confident that when they come to UPHS-Marquette they are being cared for at one of the safest hospitals in our region.”

To see the complete Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.

Jaymie Depew can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206.