XENIA — Two Greene County hospitals are among the safest hospitals in Ohio according to a national patient safety watchdog.

In the Leapfrog Group’s bi-annual grade release, Xenia-based Greene and Beavercreek-based Soin each received an A, joining the rest of the eligible Kettering Health Network hospitals in receiving such distinction. More than 2,600 general acute care hospitals are reviewed during each grading period, and each receive A, B, C, D, or F grade based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“Patient safety is truly our highest priority,” said Rick Dodds, president of both hospitals. “It truly recognizes our staff and physicians for their continued focus (on safety).”

Developed under the guidance of an expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades. It is calculated by top patient safety experts and peer-reviewed.

“What it talks about (is) how well hospitals prevent medical errors and other harms to patients,” Dodds said. “And that’s why it’s important. Particularly during this time of COVID. After COVID, the health-care industry will be redefined, more focused on quality and value for our communities.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade places each measure into one of two domains: Process/structural, and outcome, each accounting for 50 percent of the overall score.

According to the Leapfrog website, process measures represent how often a hospital gives patients recommended treatment for a given medical condition or procedure. For example, “Responsiveness of hospital staff” looks at patients’ feedback on how long it takes for a staff member to respond when they request help. Structural measures represent the environment in which patients receive care. For example, “Doctors order medications through a computer” represents whether a hospital uses a special computerized system to prevent errors when prescribing medications.

Outcome measures represent what happens to a patient while receiving care. For example, “Dangerous object left in patient’s body” measures how many times a patient undergoing surgery had a dangerous foreign object, like a sponge or tool, left in his or her body.

Of the 108 Ohio hospitals evaluated, 48 received an A. Greene has received an A since spring 2017. Soin received an A twice last year after receiving C’s in 2018.

“You have to thank the clinicians led by our physicians and our critical care staff,” Dodds said, adding that the one best practice across the KHN brand is establishing a culture of quality.

“A culture of quality starts with our physicians,” Dodds said.

In order to maintain that quality and safety, there are checks and balances within the hospitals.

“We have a number of different quality measures that are reported through physician-led committees,” Dodds said, adding that there are “open and transparent” conversations on how to continue to improve and advance.

“The structure of quality is well built-out at each of our institutions,” he said.

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By Scott Halasz

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Contact Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.