Study: Every 1.7 Minutes a Medicare Beneficiary Experiences a Patient Safety Event

Patients at Top-Performing Hospitals 43 Percent Less Likely to Experience a
Medical Error According to HealthGrades Study

GOLDEN, Colo.--(Business Wire)--
The 2009 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients were identified
in a report issued today by the leading independent healthcare ratings
organization. These hospitals represent an elite group that save lives, save
money and prevent errors at a higher rate than other U.S. hospitals.

If all hospitals performed at the level of Patient Safety Excellence Award
hospitals, approximately 211,697 patient safety events and 22,771 Medicare
deaths could have been avoided while saving the U.S. approximately $2.0 billion
from 2005 through 2007. Between 2005 and 2007, 913,215 total patient safety
events were recorded among Medicare beneficiaries, which represents 2.3 percent
of the nearly 38 million Medicare hospitalizations. This equates to one reported
patient safety event every 1.7 minutes.

For the sixth consecutive year, HealthGrades has analyzed patient safety among
Medicare patients in all of the nearly 5,000 U.S. non-federal hospitals based on
15 indicators of patient safety developed by the federal government`s Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

This year, 242 hospitals, which represent the top five percent of all hospitals
in the U.S., were recognized with a HealthGrades 2009 Patient Safety Excellence
AwardTM. HealthGrades developed this award to give patients more information
about choosing a hospital.

"Patient safety incidents are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The
sad fact is that many, if not most, of these errors are preventable. Patients
shouldn`t die or experience unnecessary harm as a result of medical errors in
hospitals," said Rick May, MD, senior physician consultant at HealthGrades and
co-author of the study. "The good news is that there are hospitals that are
doing an amazing job when it comes to patient safety and we commend them.
Patients need to know that they have a substantially lower risk of experiencing
a medical error and therefore a lower risk of death or complications when they
are admitted to one of these exceptional top-performing hospitals."

Study highlights:

Large Safety Gaps Identified Between Top and Bottom Performing Hospitals

* Patients treated at top-performing hospitals had, on average, a 43 percent
lower chance of experiencing one or more medical errors compared to the
poorest-performing hospitals.

Patient Safety Events Are Common at U.S. Hospitals

* Between 2005 and 2007 there were 913,215 total patient safety events among
Medicare beneficiaries.

Common Patient Safety Events are Very Costly

* Between 2005 and 2007 these patient safety events were associated with over
$6.9 billion of wasted healthcare cost.

Less Improvement Seen Among Most Common Events

* Eight patient safety indicators showed improvement while seven indicators
worsened in 2007 compared to 2005. Some of the most common and most serious
indicators worsened, including decubitus ulcer (bed sores), sepsis, respiratory
failure, deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs), and pulmonary embolism
(potentially fatal blood clots forming in the lungs).

Approximately One-in-Ten Medicare Patients with Patient Safety Events Died

* Between 2005 and 2007 there were 97,755 actual inhospital deaths that occurred
among patients who experienced one or more of the 15 patient safety events.

HealthGrades` individual hospital ratings can be viewed for free at
HealthGrades.com.

Methodology

The sixth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study applies
methodology developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to identify the incident rates of 15
patient safety indicators among Medicare patients at virtually all of the
nation's nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals. Additionally, HealthGrades applied
its methodology using 12 patient safety indicators to identify the
best-performing hospitals, or HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award
Hospitals, which represent the top five percent of all U.S. hospitals.

The following are the patient safety indicators studied:

* Complications of anesthesia
* Death in low mortality Diagnostic Related Groupings (DRGs)
* Decubitus ulcer (bed sores)
* Death among surgical inpatients with serious treatable complications
* Iatrogenic pneumothorax
* Selected infections due to medical care
* Post-operative hip fracture
* Post-operative hemorrhage or hematoma
* Post-operative physiologic and metabolic derangements
* Post-operative respiratory failure
* Post-operative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis
* Post-operative sepsis
* Post-operative abdominal wound dehiscence
* Accidental puncture or laceration
* Transfusion reaction

* Post-operative sepsis

* Post-operative abdominal wound dehiscence

* Accidental puncture or laceration

* Transfusion reaction

About HealthGrades

Health Grades, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGRD) is the leading independent healthcare ratings
organization, providing quality ratings, profiles and cost information on the
nation's hospitals, physicians, nursing homes and prescription drugs. Millions
of patients and many of the nation`s largest employers, health plans and
hospitals rely on HealthGrades` quality ratings, advisory services and
decision-support resources. The HealthGrades Network of Web sites, including
HealthGrades.com and WrongDiagnosis.com, is a top-ten health property according
to ComScore and is the Internet's leading destination for patients choosing
providers. More information on the company can be found at
http://www.healthgrades.com.

Editor`s note: A full copy of the report, which lists the hospitals receiving
the HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, is available at
http://www.healthgrades.com/research or by contacting Scott Shapiro at
720-963-6584 or sshapiro@healthgrades.com.

Health Grades, Inc.
Scott Shapiro, 720-963-6584
sshapiro@healthgrades.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009