Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Among Top Hospitals in U.S.

Of the 55 Top Urban Hospitals named in the U.S. this year, 19 are Kaiser Permanente medical centers in California.

South San Francisco is one of ten Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals that have been named 2013 Leapfrog Top Hospitals, an honor that rewards medical centers for outstanding success in such areas as the use of electronic health records to reduce medication and other errors, performance on high-risk surgical procedures, low mortality rates, and appropriate physician staffing.  

“It is an honor to be recognized as a top performing hospital,” said Frank Beirne, Senior Vice President and Area Manager, Kaiser Permanente San Mateo Area. "This award reflects the hard work and commitment of our physicians, nurses and staff to provide the highest quality of care and service to our members.   I couldn’t be prouder of their dedication to our patients and our community.”

The 19 Kaiser Permanente hospitals honored in California comprise more than a third of the 55 top urban hospitals with that designation nationally, and all but two of the top urban hospitals named in California.

Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s Top Hospitals in 2013 are:

* Antioch                                                         * San Jose

* Fresno                                                           * Santa Clara

* Oakland                                                        * South San Francisco

* Richmond                                                     * Vacaville

* Roseville                                                       * Walnut Creek

“Since 2008, Kaiser Permanente has implemented dozens of programs that have improved our clinical quality, patient safety, and patient care experience – all of which have contributed to our hospitals being among the very best in the nation,” said Gregory A. Adams, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan/Hospitals, Inc., in Northern California. “At the same time, as part of our transformation of health care, we are also making it more convenient for our members and patients to get their care where and when they want it — in outpatient clinics, in their homes, online, and over the phone.”

Nine Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California also received the honor. In all, only 90 hospitals around the country were named Top Hospitals, out of approximately 1,300 surveyed.

The Kaiser Permanente hospitals honored in Southern California are: Downey, Fontana, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario, Panorama City, Riverside, San Diego and Woodland Hills.

“Kaiser Permanente’s excellence in clinical care is now the standard that others around the country are striving to achieve,” said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. “Seamless, integrated, prepaid health care has a demonstrable, major advantage over antiquated, episodic, fee-for-service medicine. As a result of the excellence of our physicians, technology and structure, our members have a 30 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, a 10 percent lower risk of dying from cancer, and a 40 percent lower chance of dying from sepsis compared to those who are not Kaiser Permanente members. These are remarkable accomplishments and consistent with the Leapfrog Top Hospital designation”

The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded in 1998 to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability.  It is an independent advocacy group working with a broad range of partners, including hospitals and insurers.  The annual survey is the only voluntary effort of its kind.

The 2013 list of Top Hospitals includes university and other teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings. The selection is based on the results of the Leapfrog Group’s annual hospital survey, which measures hospitals’ performance on patient safety and quality, addressing areas of hospital care including how patients fare, resource use, and management structures in place to prevent treatment errors. The results of the survey are posted on a website open to patients and families, the public, employers, and other purchasers of health care. The website is http://www.leapfroggroup.org/cp

Leapfrog also updated its hospital safety scores released earlier this year. Twenty of Kaiser Permanente’s hospitals in Northern California received “A” grades, the highest possible.

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