South County Hospital earns ''A'' safety rating for three consecutive years
For the sixth consecutive biannual evaluation, South County Hospital has received an “A” Hospital Safety Score rating from The Leapfrog Group. It is the only hospital in Rhode Island to earn the “A” rating for three full years.
An “A” grade is one of the most meaningful honors a hospital can achieve, and one of the most valuable indicators for patients looking for a safe place to receive care. The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit.
“We are pleased to receive another ‘A’ rating from The Leapfrog Group. Having three years with an ‘A’ safety rating underscores the commitment of everyone at South County Hospital to give the best possible care,” said South County Hospital President and CEO Lou Giancola. “We strive every day to meet nationally recognized standards.”
The Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is designed to give the public information that consumers can use to protect themselves and their families.
The Leapfrog Group is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, independent healthcare transparency advocacy group. The Hospital Safety Score uses national performance measures established by the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
One of the most significant problems with today’s healthcare system is the failure to make safety and quality information available to the public so that consumers can make informed choices about where to receive care. The purpose of the Hospital Safety Score is to bring this information to light in a way that is easy for consumers to understand.
