JPS Health Network earns highest patient safety grade from The Leapfrog Group
John Peter Smith Health Network has received an “A” grade in patient safety from the nonprofit health care watchdog organization The Leapfrog Group.
The designation is the first time JPS has scored an “A” since the health network started participating in The Leapfrog Group’s surveys in 2015.
“Despite all the challenges of the pandemic and everything else that comes the way of a public hospital, the people of JPS have pushed forward the quality of care in Tarrant County,” Robert Earley, President and CEO of JPS Health Network, said in a statement Wednesday. “This grade represents the dedication 7,200 JPS team members have to improving healthcare in the community they serve. And we are so proud of that.”
The Leapfrog Group ranks American health care providers from a grade of F, the lowest, to A, the highest. According to the organization’s website, the grades are meant to educate consumers about the quality and safety of hospitals in their community so they can choose the best hospital for their care.
Survey data uses publicly available information and analyzes it using up to 27 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety, according to the website. Results are released every spring and fall.
JPS turned in a lengthy voluntary survey as one major source of data, with the rest gathered from federal databases, survey data, and patient satisfaction scores, according to JPS Health Network.
In its fall 2021 score, JPS Hospital scored a grade A for its practices preventing problems after surgery, lack of safety issues and for its practices to prevent errors, such as ordering medications. JPS Hospital was graded a B in spring 2021 and received a C grade in both spring and fall of 2020 and 2019, according to The Leapfrog Group.
“The whole rating is seriously stacked against hospitals that take care of patients with poor social determinants of health... and that is the situation here all the time,” Dr. G. Robert Stephenson, Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for JPS Health Network, said in a statement, “When you’re taking care of a complex population, it’s much harder.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
