By Leigh Farmer 

VCU Medical Center has earned an “A” rating from The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog group focused on patient safety.  The grade is based on more than 30 performance measures that include medication safety, error prevention, nursing care, infection rates, patient satisfaction, processes, and leadership that keep patients safe. Only 32% of hospitals nationwide receive this top mark.   

“We are continually striving to create a safer experience of care for our patients and want patient safety to always be our true north,” said John McCurley, M.D., interim president of VCU Medical Center.  “This Leapfrog “A” rating is the result of the combined efforts of our entire team, and we are proud of the progress it represents.”  

This score is a culmination of a multi-year effort to increase safety protocol for all patients. It represents consistent performance on safety measures including infection and complication rates that impact patients and their families. Leapfrog also used patient satisfaction scores when determining VCU Medical Center’s final “A” rating. 

Further solidifying our safety standing, VCU Medical Center is among the top 3% of hospitals in the country for patient safety performance, according to the Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) 90 developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  This statistic reflects how often patients experience complications or harmful events after surgery, procedures or during a hospital stay.

“Earning a Leapfrog score of “A” helps to anchor our system to the foundational work that was started years ago to provide incrementally safer care for our patients,” said Georgia McIntosh, M.D., interim chief quality and safety officer. “This designation validates the work of hundreds of interprofessional team members engaging in safety work at each level, on every unit, at every encounter, every day.”

VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital (A) and VCU Community Memorial Hospital (C) also received ratings from Leapfrog. The program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.