Analysis: How safe are Washington hospitals?
Published: 2010-07-10 22:22:17By: Eric Nalder | Seattle PI | March 22, 2010
Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center is the safest hospital in Washington.
That conclusion -- based on a computer analysis of patient treatment records at all hospitals in the state -- didn't surprise anyone in the healthcare business.
It also lent credence to the data analysis, since Virginia Mason gets regular kudos for safety from national organizations like The Leapfrog Group in Washington D.C., and even from its competitors.
"We would like to be like Virginia Mason as one of the premiere quality hospitals," said Sharon Jenkins, administrator for quality management for Tacoma General Hospital, which ranked low in the same study.
When it came to naming the lower ranked hospitals, some eyebrows were elevated. Though nearly every hospital in Washington regularly uses the same data to judge their own performances internally, some hospital officials didn't approve of its use to compare hospitals.
"This data is a good starting point for hospitals to look for quality improvement (internally)," said Shelly Pricco, director of patient services at Enumclaw Regional Hospital, which rated lower. "But there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes before you can say the hospital has a problem."
Eight hospitals on the lower "watch list", besides Tacoma General and Enumclaw Regional, were Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington, Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Highline Medical Center in Burien, University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, and Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Spokane Valley.
Others are on the "honor roll" list with Virginia Mason were Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla and Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver.
The study done for Hearst by Niagara Health Quality
Coalition of New York used a program developed by the federal government
to analyze 2007 hospital billing data. The program is designed to
determine the relative safety records of each hospital based on the
outcomes of certain treatments. The data is collected by the state
Department of Health on all patients in all hospitals.