Berkshire Medical Center Achieves Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award

PITTSFIELD, Mass. —  Berkshire Medical Center 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 percent 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 to 2017), Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided 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 (AHRQ).

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipients hospitals, on average:

* 55.9 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care.

* 50.9 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.

* 64.4 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.

* 57 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.

Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 5e and 2018) to MedPAR data for years 2015 through 2017 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. 

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 have been 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."

"We are proud to recognize the recipients of the 2019 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, which shines a spotlight on the hospitals that are preventing the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications, for patients during their hospital stay,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer of Healthgrades. "We applaud these hospitals and their commitment to providing the best possible care for every patient."

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