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Watauga Medical Center has received the 2019 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM, which recognizes hospital excellence in safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications during their hospital stay.

“I’m so proud of our team for being named among the nation’s top 10% for patient safety,” said Chuck Mantooth, President and CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare System. “This recognition validates our efforts and dedication toward providing excellent healthcare for our community.”

Healthgrades Patient Safety Award Image 2019Variation in hospital quality can have a significant impact on the quality of care a patient receives. Healthgrades compared 2019 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM Recipients as a group, to all other hospitals, & found that on average patients are:

55.9% less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care.
50.9% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.
64.4% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.
57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.

In addition, if all hospitals in the nation performed at the level of Award Recipients for each of the 14 Patient Safety Indicators, 127,667 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

“We are proud to recognize the recipients of the 2019 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM, which shines a spotlight on the hospitals that are preventing the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications, for patients during their hospital stay,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals and their commitment to providing the best possible care for every patient.”

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During the study period (2015 to 2017), Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 14 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.



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