Riverview Hospital has been identified as a recipient of the 2012 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, indicating that its patient safety ratings are in the top 5 percent of U.S. hospitals.

The study finds that Medicare patients at Patient Safety Excellence Award hospitals were almost 48 percent less likely to experience one of 13 preventable safety events compared to hospitals in the bottom 5 percent in the nation. If all hospitals performed at Riverview Hospital’s level of distinction, approximately 254,000 patient safety events and 56,367 deaths among Medicare patients could have been avoided.

“Receiving this recognition is a reflection of our vision to redefine the healthcare experience, by becoming the best place to practice medicine, and receive care,” said Riverview Hospital President Pat Fox. “We have achieved this recognition by being proactive and maintaining protocols that focus on delivering world class care that is focused on patient safety.”

To identify the 2012 award recipients, HealthGrades analyzed approximately 40 million hospitalization records from 5,000 hospitals nationwide that participate in the Medicare program. Participation in the study is not voluntary, and hospitals cannot choose to opt out of the analysis.

“From improving communication to implementing protocols to make surgery safer, hospitals across the country are working harder to reduce preventable patient safety events. The results of these efforts are clear among this year’s HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award hospitals,” said Kristin Reed, vice president of hospital quality programs at HealthGrades and author of the study. “Hospitals like Riverview Hospital are not only setting the bar for high standards of patient safety but also serving as an example for other hospitals.”

All analysis was based on data from 2008 to 2010. HealthGrades analyzes the following patient safety events for this study: death in procedures where mortality is usually very low; pressure or bed sores acquired in hospital; death following a serious complication after surgery; foreign object left in body during a procedure; collapsed lung due to procedure or surgery in or around chest; catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at hospital; hip fracture following surgery; hemorrhage or hematoma resulting from procedure or surgery; electrolyte and fluid imbalance following surgery; respiratory failure following surgery; deep blood clots in lungs or legs following surgery; sepsis following surgery; and breakdown of abdominal incision site.

For more information on HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award and the ratings methodology, visit www.healthgrades.com.