Salt Lake City, UT — MountainStar Healthcare announced that three of its hospitals received an “A” in the fall 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Lakeview Hospital, Lone Peak Hospital and St. Mark’s Hospital each received the national distinction which celebrates achievements in protecting patients from preventable harm and errors.
The Utah health network, with eight hospitals from Logan to Payson and more than 60 other sites of care, is part of HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers. Across the nation, 81% of HCA Healthcare facilities earned an “A” or “B” grade. This is 24 percentage points higher than the national average of 57%.
“We’re committed to delivering high-quality care and an excellent patient experience in each of the nearly one million patient interactions we serve in Utah each year,” said Filip Roos, M.D., the chief medical officer for MountainStar Healthcare. “We’re proud of the skilled and dedicated professionals whose commitment to caring for people shines through in the recognition our hospitals receive from trusted organizations like The Leapfrog Group.”
This recognition marks the 13th consecutive “A” grade for Lakeview Hospital. It’s the third straight “A” grade for St. Mark’s Hospital, and Lone Peak Hospital’s second in a row. Across the state, five of the six MountainStar facilities that are large enough to receive a Leapfrog grade were awarded an “A” or “B,” also well above the national average.
Twice a year, The Leapfrog Group assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” Safety Grade to general hospitals across the country based on how well they protect patients from preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade utilizes national patient safety measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Leapfrog Hospital Survey to make their assessment.
MountainStar hospitals combine the benefits of their deep connections to the communities they serve with the strength, data and best practices from the HCA Healthcare network. HCA Healthcare has a long history of prioritizing and working to continually improve patient safety, including:
- Establishing a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) to improve patient safety and the quality of healthcare delivery by partnering with colleagues at HCA Healthcare facilities to build systems, refine processes and foster a culture of safety.
- Developing evidence-based perinatal protocols through the company’s longstanding partnership with March of Dimes, such as prohibiting elective delivery prior to 39 weeks to help babies have a heathy start to life. This best practice has now been adopted worldwide as a standard of care. HCA Healthcare has also worked to identify and develop solutions for top perinatal safety risks including preeclampsia, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in C-section deliveries, and post-partum hemorrhage.
- Hosting the REDUCE MRSA study, with nearly 75,000 patients across 43 HCA Healthcare hospitals, which found that using antimicrobial soap and ointment to decolonize all ICU patients reduced bloodstream infections by 44% and MRSA by 37%. The CDC has since adopted this practice.
- Conducting the ABATE Infection Trial at 53 HCA Healthcare hospitals with 330,000 patients in 194 non-ICU units, which found an infection control technique achieved a 31% reduction in bloodstream infections and nearly a 40% reduction in antibiotic-resistant bacteria among non-ICU patients with central line catheters and lumbar drains.
- Developing the Sepsis Prediction and Optimization of Therapy (SPOT) tool, a system to help clinicians more quickly identify patients with sepsis.
- Building upon the capabilities of SPOT technology to develop the Next-gen Analytics for Treatment and Efficiency (NATE) platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. NATE brings analytic insights to assist clinicians in applying the appropriate clinical protocol for mechanically ventilated patients. This ability helped to decrease length of stay and increase survival in HCA Healthcare facilities by 28%.
- Reducing HCA Healthcare’s average door-to-needle-time to 34 minutes, faster than the national standard for stroke care.