Berkshire Medical Center Recognized for Patient Safety

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award. This is the third straight year BMC has been recognized with this honor, which places the medical center among the top 5% of all short-term acute-care hospitals reporting patient-safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

During the study period (2015-17), recipients of the Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award demonstrated excellent performance in safety 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.

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipient hospitals, on average, 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 bedsores acquired in the hospital; and 57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital. In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 14 patient-safety indicators, 127,667 patient-safety events could be avoided.

“Berkshire Medical Center continues its consistent record of providing our community with the highest- and safest-quality care,” said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. “Our physicians, nurses, advanced-practice professionals, technologists, therapists, and support staff are committed to a standard of excellence, and all share in this recognition.”