UT Health Tyler, UT Health North Campus Tyler and UT Health Jacksonville were awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the hospitals’ achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care. UT Health hospitals were the only hospitals in the region to receive an A letter grade.
Moody Chisholm, President and CEO of UT Health East Texas, said the A letter grades are indicative of the improvements in quality and safety that have been accomplished since UT Health East Texas formed in March 2018.
“Soon after the formation of our new system in 2018, we established a new culture of safety for our system. That has resulted in considerable improvements in our quality and safety measures and patient outcomes,” Chisholm said. “While none of the publicly available quality and safety ratings systems are perfect in their rating methodology, we are thankful that this honor from Leapfrog reflects this tremendous work.”
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
“We are extremely grateful to hospital leadership and healthcare workers who have remained steadfast in prioritizing patient safety as our nation battles COVID-19,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This ‘A’ is a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for UT Health Tyler, UT Health North Campus Tyler and UT Health Jacksonville. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”
Tracy O’Daniel, UT Health East Texas Division Vice President of Quality, credited the A grades to UT Health’s development and implementation of the “Mission Zero: Our Culture of Safety” program, which has a goal of zero patient harm.
“Zero patient harm is definitely an aspirational goal for any healthcare organization because it requires an organizational culture change at all levels,” O’Daniel said. “Mission Zero began with putting a face on safety and introduced the concept of high reliability and what that looks like for our leadership team and our caregivers. Mission Zero has greatly improved our quality and safety metrics, has increased safety awareness and established a new culture of safety for our system.”
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information, they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
About UT Health East Texas
UT Health East Texas provides care to thousands of patients each year through an extensive regional network that includes 10 hospitals, more than 50 clinics, the Olympic Plaza Tower, 13 regional rehabilitation facilities, two freestanding emergency centers, regional home health services covering 41 counties, an EMS fleet of more than 50 ambulances and four helicopters, and a comprehensive seven-trauma center care network, including the region’s only Level 1 trauma facility.
As a partner with The University of Texas System, UT Health East Texas is uniquely positioned to provide patients with access to leading-edge research and clinical therapies while training and educating the next generation of physicians and other health professionals. The nationally recognized UT System also includes UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, as well as three other major university medical centers located throughout the state.