NUMC RECEIVES TOP SCORE “”A”” IN PATIENT SAFETY BY LEAPFROG GROUP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2012

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

NUMC RECEIVES TOP SCORE “A” IN PATIENT SAFETY BY LEAPFROG GROUP

East Meadow, NY…..Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announces that the Nassau University Medical Center has received the top score of “A” in patient safety by the Leapfrog Group. The Hospital Safety Score was created and is administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national leader and advocate in hospital transparency. The safety measures considered in the Hospital Safety Score represent the very basic blocks of medical care, such a hand-washing, computerized medication control and nurse staffing levels.

“We are proud and delighted to receive the top “A” score by the Leapfrog Group in patient safety. Our staff has been committed to consistently following patient safety protocols and improving quality of care by reducing preventable medical mistakes as patients deserve to be in the safest hospital possible. Our top score demonstrates our transparency and our diligence in delivering a better and safer quality of care to all our patients,” indicated Gianelli.

“NUMC achieved this score through rigorous adherence to evidence based practice guidelines and implementation of a variety of strategic and departmental initiatives focusing on patient safety, outcomes and transparency,” stated Maureen P. Shannon, CPHQ, CSHA, MHA, MBA, vice president of quality management.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent, national not-for-profit organization founded more than a decade ago by the nation’s leading employers and private healthcare experts, striving to make giant “leaps” forward in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare in the U.S. by promoting transparency and value-based hospital incentives. The Hospital Safety Score uses national performance measures from 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 to produce a single score representing the hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors. In addition, secondary data from the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey was used. The Hospital Safety Score included 26 measures, all currently in use by national measurement and reporting programs. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine gave the Leapfrog founders an initial focus – reducing preventable medical mistakes. The report found that up to 98,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors made in hospitals alone. 

Steven J. Walerstein, MD, FACP, NuHealth’s executive vice president for medical affairs and medical director, congratulated NuHealth staff on this prestigious patient safety recognition by the Leapfrog Group: “Congratulations on achieving the top patient safety score, a result of our adherence to safer practices and the implementation of best practices and evidence-based protocols to help avoid hospital acquired infections, medication errors and procedural mistakes. This top score reflects the priority that leadership has placed on safer outcomes with systems and policies in effect to achieve them.”

ABOUT LEAPFROG:
The Leapfrog Group is a voluntary program aimed at mobilizing employer purchasing power to alert America’s health industry that big leaps in health care safety, quality and customer value will be recognized and rewarded. Among other initiatives, Leapfrog works with its employer members to encourage transparency and easy access to health care information as well as rewards for hospitals that have a proven record of high quality care. The Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the gold standard for comparing hospitals’ performance on the national standards of safety, quality, and efficiency that are most relevant to consumers and purchasers of care. Hospitals that participate in The Leapfrog Hospital Survey achieve hospital-wide improvements that translate into millions of lives and dollars saved.

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.