Russellville Hospital Earns an “A” in Patient Safety by Hospital Safety Score

5/8/2013

Russellville, Alabama – Russellville Hospital was recognized with an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.

The A score was awarded in the latest update to the Hospital Safety ScoreSM, the A, B, C, D or F scores assigned to U.S. hospitals based on preventable medical errors, injuries accidents, and infections. The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety (April 2013), Hospital Safety Score is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.

“This score represents the excellent care provided here at our hometown hospital.  We are very proud of this achievement as it represents the excellent collaboration among our physicians and hospital employees in providing high quality, safe care,” said Christine Stewart, CEO of Russellville Hospital.   

“Earning an ‘A’ on the Hospital Safety Score demonstrates that this hospital has exhibited excellence in our national database of patient safety measures,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I’d like to congratulate Russellville Hospital for your achievements and encourage you to continue to put a priority on the safety of your patients.”

To see Russellville Hospital’s scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. Local hospitals’ scores are also available on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s eight-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).  

About The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

About Russellville Hospital
Russellville Hospital is a 100-bed acute care hospital facility serving northwest Alabama. The hospital is fully accredited by The Joint Commission. Among its many services, the hospital provides a 24-hour Emergency Room, Intensive Care/Cardiac Care Unit, Respiratory Therapy, Inpatient and Outpatient Diagnostic and Treatment Services, Rehabilitation Services, Sports Medicine, Cardiac Catheterization, Ambulatory Surgery, Laboratory and Home Health.