Kansas City healthcare leader is nationally recognized for clinical excellence.
Kansas City, MO — Research Medical Center — part of HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s leading healthcare provider — today announced that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places Research Medical Center among the top 10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers.
“Our patients’ safety is always a top priority at Research Medical Center, and that standard of care became even more critical during the past two years with challenges presented by the pandemic,” says Research Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Ashley McClellan, FACHE. “Our dedicated family of physicians, clinical teams and support staff has worked diligently to ensure that our hospital remains a safe and trusted place for the communities we serve to receive high-quality, compassionate healthcare. We’re proud to be recognized for those efforts and to be among the top 10 percent of hospitals across the nation for patient safety.”
“Overall improvements in hospital-acquired infections are better than the national rate for c-difficile infections and catheter-associated infections,” says Research Medical Center Vice President Quality/Safety Tiffany Uhlenhake. “Most of these indicators result from Research Medical Center’s implementation of an enhanced surgical recovery process, helping reduce complications, decrease use of opioids and improve length of stay.”
During the study period (2018 through 2020), 170,231 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. * Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in-hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades also found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ were, on average:
- 55.8% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 52.6% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 66.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
- 65.8% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*
When it comes to choosing healthcare, quality saves lives, which is why Healthgrades is committed to delivering the most scientifically accurate and comprehensive information about doctors and hospitals — with data insights not available anywhere else. To that end, it's important for consumers to know that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the Healthgrades Patient Safety Award Recipients, on average, 100,189 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
“Through our 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” says Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We are proud to name Research Medical Center as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a priority.”
Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award™ methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2021.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2018 through 2020 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and as a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content. Our health system, provider, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years. Healthgrades is part of RV Health, a Red Ventures business, which has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio including Healthline, Healthgrades, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy and Platejoy. (“Holy Cross Hospital Named Among America's 100 Best ...”) Each month, RV Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives. Start your search for the right care at healthgrades.com or learn more about our health system solutions at healthgrades.com/partners.