Faulkner Hospital Recognized for Dedication to Patient Safety

Jamaica Plain, MA - Once again, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital has been recognized for its dedication to patient safety by being awarded an “A” grade in the Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score.

The hospital is also being recognized among only a handful of hospitals nationally to have achieved “Straight As”—meaning consistently earning an “A” over the past three years. It’s one of just 17 hospitals in Massachusetts to earn this distinction.

The Hospital Safety Score is an industry rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit.

The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score 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.

Director of Patient Safety, Quality, Infection Control and Accreditation Christi Barney said, “This is truly a reason to celebrate! I’m so proud to work for an institution and with a staff that is so dedicated to patient safety. This year’s ‘A’ grade is testament to that hard work.”

“Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital is one of only 133 hospitals in the country to have achieved ‘Straight As’ from the Hospital Safety Score since 2012,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “I commend you for your never-ending quest to put your patients first, and urge your continued vigilance in keeping your patients safe.”

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.

Now, for the first time, 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.