Valley Medical recognized for outstanding achievement in improving patient safety
Published 12:34 pm Monday, October 20, 2014
UW Medicine announced this past week that two of its hospitals, including Valley Medical Center, were recognized for outstanding achievement in improving patient safety at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) in Seattle.
Northwest Hospital & Medical Center and Valley Medical Center earned the 2014 Washington State Hospital Association “Achieving Best Care” Award for their efforts to decrease patient harm through their participation in the Partnership for Patients national initiative, a nationwide collaborative effort to reduce the number of hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and hospital readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2014.
The initiative focuses on reducing harm in 10 key areas:
1. Adverse drug events
2. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
3. Central line-associated blood stream infections
4. Injuries from falls and immobility
5. Obstetrical adverse events
6. Pressure ulcers
7. Surgical site infections
8. Venous thromboembolism
9. Ventilator-associated pneumonia
10. Preventable readmissions
The “Achieving Best Care” Award was presented to hospitals that achieved the highest scores on harm reduction in the key areas. The scoring was based on the size of the hospital, the key strategies in which they were participating, and if they were in the top one-fourth of high performing hospitals in the state.
All of the top performers reached the Partnership for Patients goal of reducing harm by 40 percent and readmissions by 20 percent and many also reached a goal of zero harm over a sustained period.
Northwest Hospital & Medical Center and Valley Medical Center are among 14 WSHA hospitals to receive this award.
“Every day at Valley Medical Center we continually monitor the care we provide to our patients to ensure each of our patients receives the safest, most responsible care possible,” Rich Roodman, CEO at Valley Medical Center, said in a press release. “At Valley, patient safety has been and continues to be our number one priority.”
“Patient safety and quality is a top priority in our Patients Are First program at all UW Medicine hospitals & clinics,” said Johnese Spisso, chief health system officer for UW Medicine. “We are honored to be recognized for the excellent care delivered by our physicians and staff and appreciate their continued efforts to achieve the Triple Aim.”
