Leapfrog Awards South Nassau an ‘A’ for Hospital Patient Safety

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. - Nov. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- South Nassau Communities Hospital has been awarded an ‘A’ for patient safety by the elite national ratings system administered byThe 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:

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

ü  Home Health Quality Improvement Gold Medal;

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

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

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

Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,000 employees.  Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.  In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and is the only hospital on Long Island with the Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies.  South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.  In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care; and disease-specific care for hip and joint replacement, wound care and end-stage renal disease.