How Safe are Austin’s Hospitals?

Have you ever wondered how safe the hospitals are in Austin? Recently, KXAN-TV had an interesting story indicating that a nonprofit group looked at 13 Austin area hospitals, grading them based on patient safety and transparency.
Unfortunately, only two hospitals in the area received “A” grades. To view the ratings, you can visit the Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score page by clicking on the source link at the bottom of this post.

Among Austin hospitals, the grades are:

• University Medical Center at Brackenridge “C”
• St. David’s Medical Center “A”
• Seton Medical Center Austin “C”
• St. David’s South Austin Medical Center “C”
• Seton Northwest Hospital “B”
• St. David’s North Austin Medical Center “B”
• St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center “C”
• Cedar Park Regional Medical Center “C”
• Seton Medical Center Hays “B”
• Scott & White Hospital-Round Rock “C”
• Seton Medical Center Williamson County “B”
• St. David’s Georgetown Hospital “A”
• Central Texas Medical Center “D”

The organization says that it used performance measures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the American Hospital Association to calculate grades.

These measures include recorded instances of medical malpractice such as surgical errors, misdiagnoses and infections spread by hygiene issues.

Why Should I Talk to an Attorney about Medical Malpractice?

It is unfortunate that so many Austin area hospitals have acceptable to below average grades when it comes to patient safety. Often, instances of medical malpractice end up being devastating for victims and family members—they can result death, in addition to catastrophic personal injuries.

This is why it is important to contact an attorney if a healthcare provider has harmed you. You will want to make sure that your attorney is willing to seek answers from your provider, in addition to preserving evidence that can be used to prove fault. You should not have to suffer because a hospital was neglectful with its care.

Unfortunately, only 59 of the 197 hospitals graded by the Leapfrog Group in Texas had “A” grades, or about 29.9 percent.

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison – Austin Personal Injury Attorney

Source: http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/search?findBy=city&zip_code=&city=Austin&state_prov=TX&hospital