MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital is the only Tennessee hospital to be named a Top Teaching Hospital as designated by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization committed to healthcare quality and safety. Only the highest performing hospitals on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey are considered for this award and must meet specific criteria for hospital infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and a hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors.
“We are honored to receive this competitive award that truly recognizes our unwavering commitment to provide our patients with the safest and highest quality care,” said MLH CEO Michael Ugwueke.
Over 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award; 48 were selected as Top Teaching Hospitals. As a 319-bed hospital, Germantown was honored in the category of hospitals with fewer than 500 staffed beds.
“We are excited and proud that Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital’s continuous commitment to and achievements in quality and patient safety have been recognized by the Leapfrog Group,” said Cristie Upshaw Travis, CEO of the Memphis Business Group on Health and Leapfrog Regional Leader in west Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi. “On behalf of the 350,000 employees and their families that receive health care benefits through our members across the state, we thank them for the work it takes to perform at this level.”
Because MLH is continuously making efforts to improve on its quality and safety performance, it often looks to other industry standards as a means to measure its progress. Most recently in November, MLH became the first healthcare system in Tennessee to earn full ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification, which demonstrates systematic, repeatable, and well-deployed practices that ensure safe patient care.
Additionally, as part of Leapfrog’s Fall 2020 Hospital Safety Grade, four Methodist hospitals earned “A” grades in safety. These grades reflect data collected over three-year look back as well as a portion of data collection that occurred after the onset of the pandemic. Those hospitals include:
- Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital
- Methodist Olive Branch Hospital
- Methodist South Hospital
- Methodist University Hospital
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
“Meeting these strenuous performance standards requires a singular focus, exceptional teamwork and consistent, rigorous processes,” says Ugwueke. “Our patients deserve our best. Relentlessly pursuing the highest level of excellence means better health outcomes for our patients, and that remains our primary focus.”
MLH voluntarily submits safety surveys to Leapfrog as part of its commitment to transparency.