Methodist Hospital Stone Oak named top 5 percent in nation for patient safety

San Antonio, Texas — Methodist Hospital Stone Oak is among the top 5 percent in the nation for Patient Safety, according to new research by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems. Each year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data, and all-payer data from 16 states for bariatrics and appendectomy procedures. *

“The importance of hospital quality is top of mind for consumers, as they are becoming more aware of the differences of care provided by different hospitals. Consumers can feel confident knowing that hospitals that are recognized for their performance in Patient Safety provide high quality care and superior outcomes,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer, Healthgrades.

Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Awards recognize hospitals with superior performance in specific specialty lines and specialty focus areas. Methodist Hospital Stone Oak has implemented several initiatives that helped in reaching this remarkable Patient Safety achievement, one of the most impactful being multidisciplinary partnerships. The partnerships consist of daily discussions across departments to address every error, infection, or complication that occurs. These collaborative discussions reveal opportunities to improve processes and further reduce harm to patients while increasing the overall patient experience. An example of success in the hospital's multidisciplinary partnerships is an 80% reduction in Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections and a 57% reduction in Central Line Blood Stream Infections from 2021 to 2023.

"We continually strive for a culture of excellence at Methodist Hospital Stone Oak and are excited to raise the bar of Patient Safety excellence across South Central Texas," shared Dr. Judy Tan Shumway, chief medical officer. "This award reflects the alignment and collaboration of all our hospital teams, from the physicians, nurses, and therapists at the bedside to the support staff surrounding them. We are all focused on improving systems to optimize our quality and safety for patients while embracing each challenge as we journey forward."

Methodist Hospital Stone Oak was also recognized for the following clinical achievements:

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™ for 2 Years in a Row (2023-2024)
• Named Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Patient Safety™ for 2 Years in a Row (2023-2024)
• America’s 250 Best Hospital Award™ by Healthgrades for 2 Years in a Row (2023-2024)
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention Award™ (2024)
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care Award™ (2024)
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Gastrointestinal Surgery Award™ (2024)
• Surgical Care Excellence Award™ (2024)

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated comparative outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected). View the full list of Specialty Excellence Award™  recipients. Read the complete Healthgrades 2024 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology.