South Nassau Communities Hospital Awarded an ‘A’ for Hospital Patient Safety from Leapfrog Group

Oceanside, NY, November 15, 2015 --(PR.com)-- South Nassau Communities Hospital has been awarded an ‘A’ for patient safety by the elite national ratings system administered by The Leapfrog Group and compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts.

Considered the gold standard rating for patient safety, The Leapfrog Group’s “Hospital Safety Score” is the first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety. The rating is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

"Our high standards for patient safety and a rigorous performance improvement program are paramount to South Nassau’s nearly 90-year tradition of excellence in the delivery of patient-centered healthcare,” said Richard J. Murphy, South Nassau's president and CEO. “Our motto ‘Where Quality Matters’ is more than just a slogan. It is ingrained in all we do. Keeping patients safe is always first and foremost in our mission..”

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade.

The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.

To see South Nassau’s full score, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Hospital Safety Score mobile app for Apple and Android devices.

The “A” rating joins a multitude of other awards for safety and quality that South Nassau has earned in 2015, including:

- American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer Outstanding Achievement Award;

- Home Health Quality Improvement Gold Medal;

- New York State Department of Health’s Perinatal Quality Collaborative Obstetrical Improvement Quality Improvement Award;

- American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®–Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Quality Achievement Award;

- American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Silver-Plus Quality Achievement Award.