Baton Rouge General Named one of Nation’s Safest Hospitals

BATON ROUGE, La. - Baton Rouge General (BRG) received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award this week, placing BRG in the top ten percent of hospitals across the country for patient safety. BRG was the only hospital in Baton Rouge, and just one of nine in Louisiana, to receive the designation.

458 hospitals across the nation earned the award, including BRG’s Mid City and Bluebonnet campuses. The distinction places this elite group of hospitals within the top 10 percent of all hospitals evaluated for their performance in safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications during their hospital stays.

“Preserving and restoring health for our patients means a constant drive toward perfection and zero harm,” said BRG President and CEO Edgardo Tenreiro. “This recognition is a testament to the teamwork of our physicians, nurses, clinicians and WorkExcellence department.”

Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients were determined by evaluating the occurrence of observed incidents and expected performance for 13 Patient Safety Indicators as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). On average, 126,342 patient safety events could have been avoided if all hospitals performed similarly to those recognized.

Four types of events make up nearly 75 percent of all patient safety events reported by hospitals: accidental cut, puncture, or hemorrhage; collapsed lung; infections; and bed sores.

Patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

• 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
• 52.4 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
• 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
• 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals

BRG was also named #1 in Greater Baton Rouge for Overall Medical Care by CareChex for 2015, 2016 and 2017, was named in the top 2% of hospitals nationwide for Overall Medical Care by CareChex in 2017 and received the Patient Safety Excellence Award from Healthgrades in 2016.

For more information about Healthgrades, to download a full copy of the report or to receive information about hospital and physician quality, visit: www.Healthgrades.com/quality.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with 588 licensed beds between two campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. Established in 1970, Baton Rouge General's Regional Burn Center is one of only 125 burn centers in the U.S. verified by the American Burn Association and plays an integral role in supporting other Gulf Coast states when the need arises. Baton Rouge General has been an accredited teaching hospital since 1991, with medical education programs including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter at @BRGeneral.

About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At www.healthgrades.com, we help millions of consumers each month to find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and advanced analytics applications, we help more than 500 hospitals across the country to cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.