Safety streak: Baptist Nassau celebrates 14 ‘Straight As’

Baptist Medical Center Nassau is on steady streak of excellence in safety, quality and transparency. The hospital celebrates its 14th “A” in a row, the highest grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit organization. Backed by data, these grades are widely recognized as one of the top benchmarks for evaluating safety, quality and transparency in health care.

“Safety is at the foundation of everything we do,” said Tara Beth Anderson, MSN, RN, NR-BC, hospital president at Baptist Nassau. “Every action, every process and every decision is rooted in our commitment to protecting our patients. We’re honored that The Leapfrog Group has acknowledged our team’s consistent focus on protecting our patients.”

Baptist Nassau is one of 78 hospitals in the country and only one of 12 in Florida to have received an “A” grade consistently since spring 2018.

The Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group assigns letter grades based on performance measures and processes hospitals have in place to protect patient safety as well as promote good outcomes and experiences. This independent grading system helps patients make informed decisions to protect themselves and their families from medical errors, injuries and infections. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

Letter grades of “A” through “F” are assigned to hospitals using calculations based on nearly 30 national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined with additional information Baptist Health voluntarily submits for the overall score.

“Receiving top scores from The Leapfrog Group is a reflection of the dedicated people and the strong processes we have in place,” said Jeremy Goodman, MD, MBA, FACHE, vice president and system quality officer at Baptist Health. “We believe every team member plays a vital role in creating a safe environment for our patients. And when people are empowered with the right tools and processes, the outcomes are truly exceptional for patient care and our community at large.”

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades are released twice a year with nearly 3,000 hospitals across the county receiving a rating.

The rating takes into consideration:

• Process measures (how a hospital gives patients a recommended treatment, including the responsiveness of hospital staff)
• Structural measures (the environment where patients receive care)
• Outcomes measures (what happens to a patient while receiving care)

To learn more about Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.