How did Jacksonville-area hospitals fare in latest patient safety grades?

Five Jacksonville-area hospitals are among the top 10% of 4,500 health care facilities across the U.S. for patient safety, according to Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

Ascension St. Vincent's Southside, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, HCA Florida Memorial Hospital, HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital and Mayo Clinic received 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards for having the lowest numbers of 14 "preventable patient safety events," according to the platform.

Mayo also received a 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award, one of only 79 facilities across the country recognized in both categories. It has been named one of the best hospitals in the country by multiple reviews and, according to Newsweek, among the best in the world.

"As consumers take a more hands-on approach to their health care journeys, hospital quality should be a top consideration when choosing where to receive care," said Dr. Brad Bowman, Healthgrades' chief medical officer and head of data science. "Our goal at Healthgrades is to offer direct, data-driven insights on the hospitals that make the safety and experience of their patients a top priority."

How does Healthgrades evaluate patient safety?

The Patient Safety Excellence Award, which was given to 444 hospitals this year, is based on a data analysis of 14 patient safety indicators, each of which represents a "serious, potentially preventable complication," according to Healthgrades.

Those complications include in-hospital falls resulting in a fracture, collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital and catheter-related bloodstream infections. Patients treated at hospitals recognized for patient safety are less likely to experience those events compared to patients at other hospitals: from 52% less likely for in-hospital falls to 71% for catheter-related bloodstream infections, according to Healthgrades.

The patient safety time period reviewed was 2020 to 2022.

How does Healthgrades evaluate patient experience?

The 2024 patient experience awards were given to 388 of the 2,575 hospitals that submitted patient surveys in 2022. The awards were based on 10 measures, including how patients viewed staff communication and responsiveness; cleanliness and noise levels at the hospital; and discharge and follow-up care information. Collectively, that data identified the top factors in whether a patient will recommend a hospital to friends and family — communication from both doctors and nurses and "clear communication about care" upon discharge, according to the platform.

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"Health care leaders have defined patient experience as the sum of all interactions, shaped by a health care organization’s culture, that influence patients’ perceptions across the continuum of care," according to Healthgrades.

What else does Healthgrades evaluate?

Healthgrades also recognizes hospitals for quality in a variety of specialties.

Several Jacksonville-area hospitals received 2024 specialty excellence awards: Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville in coronary intervention; UF Health Jacksonville in cardiac surgery; and HCA Florida Memorial in orthopedic surgery, critical care and joint replacement. Mayo also was recognized in 10 specialties, including cardiac care and surgery, gastrointestinal care and surgery, joint replacement, bariatric surgery and cranial neurosurgery.

How does Mayo maintain top quality in both patient safety and experience?

The awards "truly reflect our pursuit of excellence," Mayo CEO Kent Thielen said.

"They validate our dedication to exceptional clinical outcomes and emphasize our focus on ensuring a positive patient experience," he said. "We remain dedicated to providing the highest quality of care to every one of our patients."

HCA Florida hospitals and patient safety

The two Jacksonville-area HCA hospitals earned patient safety recognition because of the company's dedication to "providing … safe, high-quality care" and the staff's ability to carry out that pledge, according to HCA Florida Healthcare.

“Excellence in patient safety is not just a goal, but a commitment to the highest standards of care, compassion and diligence," said Dr. Albert Holt, chief medical officer HCA Florida Memorial. "It's a testament to the unwavering dedication of all our health care professionals in safeguarding every life entrusted to their care."

What does all this mean for other hospitals?

Other hospitals could have avoided about 97,000 patient safety events that occurred during that time period "if they all performed similarly" to 2024 award winners, according to Healthgrades.

Improved patient experience also could improve their bottom line.

"Consumers are increasingly considering data-driven resources to assess hospitals and choose their preferred health care facility," according to Healthgrades. About 80% of people surveyed in a recent Healthgrades study said a hospital having a quality award "makes them feel more confident that it is a good choice for themselves and their loved ones."

How did other Florida hospitals fare?

Forty-three other Florida hospitals received Healthgrades' 2024 patient safety award, and 10 others received the patient experience award.

What about other hospital safety evaluations?

Twice a year, Leapfrog, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, assigns letter grades from "A" to "F" to nearly 3,000 full-service U.S. hospitals.

In November seven of the 14 full-service hospitals in the Jacksonville area received "A" grades from the national health care watchdog organization’s latest patient safety survey. Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, Baptist Medical Center South, HCA Florida Memorial Hospital, Mayo Clinic and UF Health Jacksonville got top marks.

Ascension St. Vincent's Southside Hospital, Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, and UF Health North received "B" grades, while Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County, Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital, HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital and HCA Florida Putnam Hospital got "C" grades.

Also, U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals 2023-24 list named Mayo as the best hospital in the state, as it has for seven of the past eight years. The magazine included Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and UF Health Jacksonville in Florida's top 25.

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville-area hospitals make Healthgrades list for patient safety