Leapfrog Group recognizes Huntsville Memorial Hospital for advancements in patient safety and healthcare quality.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Huntsville Memorial Hospital (HMH) has achieved a significant milestone by improving its hospital quality rating to a ‘B’ grade, according to The Leapfrog Group’s November 2024 ratings. This advancement highlights HMH’s dedication to enhancing patient safety, quality of care, and overall healthcare standards.
Leapfrog, a nonprofit organization that evaluates hospital performance nationwide, recognized HMH for its efforts in multiple areas of patient care, including:
- Billing Ethics: HMH achieved the standard by providing detailed billing information, quick access to billing representatives, and avoiding lawsuits over unpaid bills.
- Patient Safety: Key achievements included full compliance in hand hygiene practices and maintaining zero infection rates for central-line associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and MRSA.
- Medication Safety: The hospital achieved the standard for computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems and documented high rates of safe medication practices.
- Preventing Patient Harm: Considerable progress was noted in nursing care and bedside staffing, with 9.43 total nursing hours per patient day and 55.74% of nursing hours performed by registered nurses.
- Informed Consent: The hospital demonstrated considerable achievement in ensuring patients are informed about procedures and risks, providing interpreter services when needed, and using the “teach-back” method to confirm understanding.
HMH scored maximum points in areas such as effective leadership to prevent errors and fostering teamwork among staff to address safety concerns.
While the hospital met or exceeded many standards, some areas, such as the proportion of registered nurses (RNs) with bachelor’s degrees and achieving Magnet status for nursing excellence, were identified as opportunities for further growth.
Located at 110 Memorial Hospital Drive, HMH serves Huntsville and surrounding communities with 98 acute-care beds and a range of medical and surgical services. The hospital remains committed to continuous improvement and meeting the healthcare needs of its patients.
For more details about the Leapfrog ratings, visit Leapfrog’s HMH profile.
