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Shawnee Mission Medical Center Awarded “A” Rating for Patient Safety by Hospital Safety Score

MERRIAM, Kan. – Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) has been honored with an “A” Hospital Safety Score^SM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.

The Hospital Safety Score^SM was calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s expert panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. U.S. hospitals were assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for their safety.

“Providing exceptional health care in the safest manner possible is our top priority,” said Ken Bacon, SMMC President and CEO. “It is especially satisfying to be acknowledged by an outside entity that evaluates each and every hospital nationwide without an application process. It is a true testament to our quest for excellence as an organization and our commitment to providing the highest quality and safest care to our community.”

The Hospital Safety Score used 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. Some of the measures include the number of patients who develop severe pressure ulcers, have surgical objects left inside their body cavities or develop postoperative pulmonary emboli. They also take into consideration the frequency with which the hospital employs best practices to prevent pneumonia, infections or other complications.

“It’s The Leapfrog Group’s goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the hospitals that earned an ‘A’ and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first.”

To see SMMC’s scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit HospitalSafetyScore.org.

About Shawnee Mission Medical Center:

Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) is a 504-bed facility with 20,000 inpatient admissions and more than 200,000 outpatient admissions annually. SMMC has the busiest emergency department in Johnson County, the area's first accredited Chest Pain Emergency Center, an accredited Breast Center and delivers more babies each year than any other hospital in the metropolitan area. SMMC employs more than 2,900 local residents and supports an exceptional staff of 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties, the largest medical staff in Kansas City. Visit us on the Web at ShawneeMission.org.

About The Leapfrog Group:

The Leapfrog Group is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

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