Healthgrades Names University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center A 2024 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM Recipient

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, a member of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), has been recognized as a 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient by Healthgrades. This national award recognizes hospitals throughout the nation that have the lowest occurrences of 14 key preventable patient safety events as designated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and reflects UM SJMC’s commitment to delivering safe, high quality care.

“One patient harmed is one too many,” said Thomas B. Smyth, MD, President and CEO of UM St. Joseph Medical Center. “Our mission and our daily work remain relentlessly focused on delivering consistently safe and effective care, to honor the trust our patients and families place in us when they need help. We are honored and inspired by this award, and most proud to be among our community’s—and the nation’s—most reliably safe and trusted health care providers.”

Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted complication and mortality rates for approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide to determine this year’s top-performing hospitals for patient safety. During the 2020-2022 study period, nearly 170,000 potentially preventable safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals, with four patient safety indicators accounting for close to 75% of these incidents.* Healthgrades’ analysis revealed that patients treated in hospitals receiving the 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award have a significantly lower chance of experiencing one of the four leading safety indicators than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

• In-hospital fall resulting in fracture (approximately 52% less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 56% less likely)
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 67% less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (approximately 71% less likely)

“University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center has cultivated an outstanding safety culture that prioritizes the well-being of both patients and staff, setting a high standard for patient safety nationwide,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science at Healthgrades. “We’re proud to recognize UM St. Joseph Medical Center for providing top-quality care while preventing serious injuries to patients during their hospital stay.”

Healthgrades is committed to providing the most scientifically accurate information about physicians and hospitals. To learn more about how Healthgrades measures hospital quality, visit healthgrades.com.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2023.0.1) to MedPAR data from approximately 4,500 hospitals for years 2020 through 2022 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

About University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center

Founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, UM St. Joseph Medical Center is a 221-bed Catholic, not-for-profit regional medical center in Towson, Maryland, that offers a wide range of superb clinical programs and centers of excellence, including the Cancer, Heart and Orthopedic Institutes, Women and Children's services and Emergency Medicine. The medical center's committed focus on zero patient harm, clinical excellence and perfect patient experiences spurred the creation of the hospital's unique approach to care, The UM St. Joseph Value Delivery System, and has consistently earned UM St. Joseph regional and national recognition for patient care and safety, including its ranking as the #1 community hospital in Maryland by U.S. News & World Report. UM St. Joseph is a proud member of the 11-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, dedicated to providing loving service and compassionate, leading-edge care to all.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

About Healthgrades

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content. Our health system, large group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years. Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio, including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy, and PlateJoy, which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. Each month, RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives.