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Oaklawn gets an "A" in hospital scores

Oaklawn gets an ‘A’ in hospital scores

Andy Fitzpatrick, Battle Creek Enquirer 3:42 p.m. EDT April 26, 2016
New hospital safety scores from an independent nonprofit group were released Monday, including those for Battle Creek area health care providers.
According to The Leapfrog Group’s analysis, which uses letter grades, Marshall’s Oaklawn Hospital scored an A [emphasis added]. Bronson Battle Creek got a C while Kalamazoo’s Bronson Health and Borgess Medical Center received C grades as well. Community Health Center of Branch County got an A.

The Leapfrog Group ranks more than 2,500 hospitals nationwide on several factors from hand washing practices to errors made in surgeries. Specific measured areas are broken down into below average, average and above average scores.
Some hospitals decline to report certain data, although the organization also looks at data gathered from other sources, such as the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Bronson Health System Director for Quality and Safety Jane Janssen said Tuesday that anyone using Leapfrog scores to make health care decisions should also consider other sources. “I think there are lots of different sources out there that provide value, and sometimes it’s taking all of those into consideration as well as talking to your friends, and neighbors and family members about experiences that they’ve had in order to come to the best decision about health care that you’re seeking out,” Janssen said. Janssen said the scores can be valuable to hospitals to point out where work is needed, and said Bronson Battle Creek works hard at improving patient satisfaction scores. Those measures have included doing shift change reporting at the patients’ bedsides so they’re included in that process, and posting important dates or instructions on white boards in patient rooms, Janssen said.

Michigan Health and Hospital Association CEO Brian Peters said in a statement released Monday that context is needed when interpreting safety scores. “Some of the data used to calculate grades are more than two years old and may not reflect the most recent patient safety and quality improvement efforts underway in a hospital,” Peters said in the statement. “In addition, not all measures apply to all patients.”

To see a list of all scored hospitals in Michigan and the results, go to www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

The federal government’s CMS data on hospitals, which uses a star scoring system, can be found at www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare.