Palms West Hospital Achieves Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM
Palms West Hospital in the top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety
Loxahatchee, Florida, June 18, 2020 – Palms West Hospital announced today that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. This distinction places Palms West Hospital among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.
During the study period (2016 through 2018),Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safeguarding patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes—risk-adjusted patient safety indicator (PSI) rates—for 13 PSIs defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A 14th PSI included in the evaluation is Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure which is a “never” event and does not have an expected rate.
Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:
- 48.3% 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 a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals.
In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
“On our journey toward excellence always, we have made it a priority to provide safe, high quality care to our patients,” said Joshua DeTillio, CEO. “Our clinical teams, and the staff that supports them, have been diligent in their efforts to follow best practices that cultivate a culture of patient safety. The Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award is a testament to their hard work and we are proud of them.”
“Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”
View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2019.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
About Palms West Hospital
Palms West Hospital is a 204-bed acute care full service facility combining high quality, patient-driven care and state-of-the-art technology to serve residents of Palm Beach County and beyond. The hospital employs over 1,200 employees, has a medical staff of 655 active physicians and a Graduate Medical Education Program. We offer a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services including: 24/7 Emergency care, stroke center designation, comprehensive surgical services, cardiac catheterization, an orthopedics and spine institute, and maternity services with a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (level II NICU).
Palms West Hospital is a recipient of numerous awards, recognitions and accreditations from a number of organizations, among them, The Joint Commission. Our more recent recognitions include Healthgrades’ 2020 Coronary Intervention Excellence Award, 2019 Gallbladder Surgery Five-Star Recipient, Healthgrades’ 2019 General Surgery Excellence Award, Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award, Press Ganey’s 2019 Guardian of Excellence Award, Children’s Oncology Group (COG) accreditation in 2019 and Blue Shield’s Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery.