Berkshire Medical Center Earns ‘A’ Grade in Hospital Safety Score

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Medical Center was honored with an ‘A’ grade in the fall 2014 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries, and infections.

The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by the Leapfrog Group, an independent industry watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the 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.

“Achieving the high ranking that BMC has attained in patient safety is the result of intensive efforts by our clinicians and quality teams, who have developed comprehensive processes designed to ensure the safest environment for all of our patients,” said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. “Our community can be confident that the care they receive right here at home is second to none.”

Added Diane Kelly, the hospital’s chief operating officer, “BMC voluntarily participates in this rigorous analysis of our patient safety programs, which we continually improve upon to provide our community with the best and safest care possible. This is a testament to the dedication of our entire staff and an organization that never stops working on improvement.”

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 fall 2014, with about 31{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} receiving an ‘A’ grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, with a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades available online.

To see how BMC’s score compares locally and nationally, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and their loved ones, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also offers consumers a free download of the Hospital Safety Score mobile app.