Overlake Medical Center Achieves Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award

May 11, 2021

Overlake Medical Center today announced that it has been named a recipient of the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award^TM. This is the third year in a row that Overlake has achieved this award, and this year the hospital moved up to the top 5% for patient safety among all short-term acute care hospitals in the nation. The award is presented by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians, and health systems.

Healthgrades based this award on a comprehensive review of 14 patient safety indicators within the Medicare inpatient population at more than 4,500 hospitals across the U.S. Inpatient data were collected from the Medicare fiscal years 2017–2019 measuring “the rate at which serious, potentially preventable complications and adverse events occur,” according to Healthgrades’ methodology.

Overlake rated “better than expected” with the following patient safety events: pressure ulcer rate, postoperative respiratory failure rate, perioperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, and postoperative sepsis rate. Those events translate to the rate of pressure (or bed) sores acquired in the hospital, respiratory failure following surgery, a blood clot (often in the leg) that travels to your lungs and blocks a blood vessel, and bloodstream infections following surgery.

“Being named among the nation’s Top 5% of hospitals for patient safety is a true testament to our commitment to keep our patients safe and deliver exceptional, quality care,” said Dave Knoepfler, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Overlake.

Healthgrades Chief Medical Officer, Brad Bowman, MD, added “The importance of hospital quality is now at the forefront of consumer’s minds, especially as we continue to navigate COVID-19. We congratulate the recipients of the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their ongoing commitment to upholding the highest quality standards for their patients and communities,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades.

Patient safety ratings evaluate the safety and quality of care at a hospital by measuring the rate at which serious, potentially preventable complications and adverse events occurred in the hospital, according to Healthgrades’ methodology report for patient safety excellence. In addition to outstanding scores through their methodology, there are extensive requirements for eligibility of Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award. That includes a high standard quality threshold, zero occurrences of foreign objects left during surgery or procedure, adequate sample size for statistical evaluation, and robust data collection. A 14^th PSI included in the evaluation is Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure, which is a “never” event and does not have an expected rate. Any hospital with a Foreign Object left in a patient is automatically ineligible for the award.

From 2017 through 2019, there were 190,273 potentially preventable patient safety events among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals.* And, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to hospitals performing better than expected on each of 13 Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) evaluated by Healthgrades, on average, 106,052 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

During this same time frame, four patient safety indicators accounted for 72% of all patient safety events (collapsed lung, hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, pressure or bed sores and catheter-related bloodstream infections). Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:

50.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
60.3% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
66.5% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
65.4% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

Finally, of note, Overlake has also recently been named with the following awards from Healthgrades:

Recipient of the Healthgrades 2021 Vascular Surgery Excellence Award™
Five-Star Recipient for Total Knee Replacement for 6 Years in a Row (2016–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Bypass Surgery for 3 Years in a Row (2019–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke for 6 Years in a Row (2016–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia for 5 Years in a Row (2017–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Carotid Procedures for 2 Years in a Row (2020–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Esophageal/Stomach Surgeries in 2021.
Five-Star Recipient for Colorectal Surgeries for 2 Years in a Row (2020–2021).
Five-Star Recipient for Appendectomy in 2021.
Recipient of the Healthgrades Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award™ for 3 Years in a Row (2018–2020).
Recognized by Healthgrades for Superior Performance in Gynecologic Surgery for 3 Years in a Row (2018–2020).
Five-Star Recipient for Hysterectomy for 6 Years in a Row (2015–2020).