UC San Diego Health Nationally Recognized with ‘A’ Grades for Safety

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UC San Diego Health has been awarded double ‘A’ grades for the spring 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. This national distinction recognizes UC San Diego Health’s hospitals in Hillcrest and La Jolla for providing demonstrably safer health care for its patients. Leapfrog assigns letter grades based on a hospital’s record of patient safety, and effective, systemic efforts to prevent errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

“Our teams continually demonstrate a relentless commitment to patient safety. Every single one of our team members, across every site, can be commended for these exceptional safety grades, an achievement which translates to protecting our patients in real and measurable ways,” said Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health. “The goal is always patients who are healed, not harmed, in an environment that is reliably safe and designed for optional outcomes.”

Two of the main drivers of UC San Diego Health’s recent results are positive HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) surveys and reductions in hospital acquired infections. HCAHPS represent standardized, publicly reported surveys of patients' perspectives of hospital care. The surveys show how hospitals are communicating effectively across a number of dimensions with a focus on communication from doctors and nurses, as well as communication about medications, discharge instructions and care transitions.

UC San Diego Health receives top safety grades for Spring 2020.

Additionally, UC San Diego Health has reduced commonly acquired health care-associated infections, such as central line-associated blood stream infections by 30 percent and catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52 percent (when comparing fall 2019 and spring 2020 reporting periods).

“These ‘A’ grades reflect what every patient needs to hear about hospital safety, especially during this global pandemic,” said Maysent. “These top grades are helpful to patients who may be seeking reassurances about seeing their providers whether it be a visit to the Emergency Department or scheduling a needed surgery.”

“As the nation copes with a challenging pandemic, our gratitude extends to hospital leadership and health care workers everywhere for their tremendous dedication,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We hope this ‘A’ helps to thank the people who work and volunteer for UC San Diego Health. They are role models in putting patients first, and their service has been extraordinary in our country’s time of need.”

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade is a letter grade assigned to all general hospitals across the country and updated every six months, assessing how well the hospital prevents medical errors and other harms to patients.

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

UC San Diego Health was awarded ‘A’ grades today, when Leapfrog updated grades for spring 2020. To see full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.