Fall River, MA – Saint Anne’s Hospital announced today that, for the second consecutive year, it has been recognized for two distinctions in quality excellence from Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. 

The recipient of the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award^TM and the Healthgrades 2018 Outstanding Patient Experience Award^TM, Saint Anne’s is one of only 65 hospitals, out of more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide evaluated for patient safety and patient experience excellence, to achieve both distinctions. This places Saint Anne’s within the top 2 percent of eligible hospitals in the nation to receive both awards. This distinction also recognizes Saint Anne’s for excellent performance in safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications, as well as providing a positive experience for patients during their hospital stays. 

Saint Anne's is the only hospital in Massachusetts or Rhode island to earn these dual distinctions. In addition, this is the third year in a row that Saint Anne’s has earned the Patient Safety Excellence Award.

Michael Bushell, president of Saint Anne’s Hospital, expressed gratitude to all who contribute to safe patient care and a superior experience for patients and their families.

“At Saint Anne’s, we have an ongoing commitment to ensuring compliance with the strictest safety standards while also implementing new processes as needed to safeguard our patients,” said Bushell. “Our highly qualified staff, our providers’ expertise, and the support of Steward Health Care help us to provide not just advanced technologies for better outcomes, but real partnerships that create a culture of safe and compassionate care.”

Patient Safety

During the study period (2014 to 2016), Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided to patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 

If all hospitals achieved the average performance of award recipients for each of the 13 Patient Safety Indicators evaluated, during the 2014 to 2016 study period, 126,342 patient safety events could have been avoided.

In addition, during this study period, patients treated in hospitals receiving Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award vs. patients treated at non-recipient hospitals were, on average:

• 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care
• 52.4 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital
 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital *


“Healthgrades congratulates the recipient hospitals on their successes, in both providing outstanding care to their patients and for reducing patient safety events,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer at Healthgrades. “Distinctions like these are important to consumers as they determine where to receive care.”

Patient Experience

In addition to being recognized as one of Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients, Saint Anne’s also out-performed peer hospitals in patient experience. 

Healthgrades evaluated performance by applying a scoring methodology to 10 patient experience measures, using data collected from a 32-question patient experience survey of the hospital’s own patients. The survey questions focus on patients’ perspectives of their care in the hospital.  The topics of these questions ranged from cleanliness and noise levels in patient rooms, to factors such as pain management and responsiveness to patients’ needs. The measures also include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends or family.

To learn more:

• View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
• Access the recently released Patient Sentiment Report from Healthgrades and MGMA, which analyzed nearly 7 million online patient reviews and reveals what patients say about their physicians.

 

About Saint Anne’s Hospital

Founded by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in 1906, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a full-service, acute care Catholic hospital with 211 beds and satellite locations in Attleboro, Swansea, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Stoughton, Massachusetts. In addition to comprehensive diagnostic, emergency, medical, and surgical services, Saint Anne’s key services include robotic-assisted surgical capabilities; Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center; the Center for Orthopedic Excellence; ambulatory surgery centers in Attleboro and Dartmouth; the Center for Pain Management; and inpatient geriatric psychiatry services.

A member of Steward Health Care, Saint Anne’s provides nationally recognized patient- and family-centered care to patients from surrounding Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities. In addition to the 2017 and 2018 Healthgrades awards, recent recognitions include “Straight A’s” for patient safety (2012-2018) and the 2017 Top Hospital award from the Leapfrog Group; consecutive Women’s Choice Awards as one of America’s best hospitals for orthopedic care and cancer care; and the Hurst Gold Standard of Nursing Award.

*Statistics are based on Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology, which is primarily constructed using AHRQ Technical Specifications version 5E applied to MedPAR data for years 2014 through 2016 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.