Palmdale Regional Earns a ‘B’ for Patient Safety in Leapfrog’s Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade

Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Palmdale Regional Earns a ‘B’ for Patient Safety in Leapfrog’s Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade

Palmdale Regional Medical Center has been recognized for its dedication to patient safety once again by being awarded a ‘B’ grade from the Leapfrog Group's Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections within the hospital. 

This ‘B’ 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 Grade 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, nonprofit hospital safety watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, it is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Grade 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. The Hospital Safety Grade is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Now, for the first time, patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Grade site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement. 

For the spring update, Leapfrog contracted with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality to update its mortality estimates linked to medical errors, infections and injuries at graded hospitals. Researchers found that patients treated at hospitals given a "D" or "F" safety grade face a 92 percent higher risk of avoidable death, compared to 88 percent for "C" hospitals and a 35 percent for "B" hospitals. 

“Palmdale Regional works hard to make a positive difference in healthcare in the Antelope Valley”, says Richard Allen, CEO. “We came very close to receiving an “A” from Leapfrog in the spring rating and are confident we will reach that goal in the fall ratings period. In the meantime, we will continue to provide award-winning quality healthcare for the region – come experience the difference.”

View Palmdale Regional's full score >