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VCU Medical Center Main Hospital

1250 E Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23219
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This Hospital's Grade
Grade a
Fall 2024

Learn how to use the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

Click Each Measure to Learn More
Hospital Performs Worse Than Average Better Than Average

This Hospital's Score:

1.132

Best Hospital's Score:

0.000

Average Hospital's Score:

0.746

Worst Hospital's Score:

2.696

MRSA infection

Staph bacteria are common in hospitals, but Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to (cannot be killed by) many antibiotics. MRSA can be found in bed linens or medical equipment and can be spread if providers do not properly wash their hands between patients. MRSA can cause life-threatening bloodstream infections, pneumonia and surgical site infections.

This number represents a comparison of the number of infections that actually happened at this hospital to the number of infections expected for this hospital, given the number of patients they care for on a daily basis and how widespread MRSA infection is in their local community. A number lower than one means fewer infections than expected; a number more than one means more infections than expected. For details on sources, click here.

What safer hospitals do:

Doctors and nurses should clean their hands after caring for every patient. Hospital rooms and medical equipment should be thoroughly cleaned often. Safer hospitals will also keep MRSA patients separate from other patients and require providers and visitors to wear gloves and gowns around these patients.

This Hospital's Score:

0.000

Best Hospital's Score:

0.000

Average Hospital's Score:

0.014

Worst Hospital's Score:

0.327

Dangerous object left in patient’s body

A surgeon can accidentally leave an object inside a patient’s body during surgery. Most times the object is a surgical sponge, which can quickly get infected. This problem doesn’t happen often, but if it does happen it can be extremely dangerous. Many patients become severely ill, disabled, or even die.

This number represents the number of times dangerous objects were left inside patients for every 1,000 people discharged. For details on sources, click here.

What safer hospitals do:

The hospital team follows a strict procedure to count sponges and tools in the operating room. The hospital may use an electronic scanning system where each object is scanned before and after surgery to ensure they haven’t left any objects inside the patient.

This Hospital's Score:

0.80

Best Hospital's Score:

0.55

Average Hospital's Score:

1.01

Worst Hospital's Score:

2.74

Harmful Events

Patients can experience complications and potentially harmful events following a surgery, a procedure, or childbirth. When all of these errors are examined together, it gives a better picture of a hospital’s ability to keep its patients safe.

This number represents the number of times patients experienced dangerous safety-related adverse events for every 1,000 people discharged. For details on sources, click here.

What safer hospitals do:

These potentially avoidable safety events represent opportunities for improving patient care. Staff should document when errors happen, discuss how the error occurred, and develop a plan to prevent future errors.

This Hospital's Score:

100

Best Hospital's Score:

100

Average Hospital's Score:

79.04

Worst Hospital's Score:

15

Doctors order medications through a computer

Hospitals can use Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems to order medications for patients in the hospital, instead of writing out prescriptions by hand. Good CPOE systems alert the doctor if they try to order a medication that could cause harm, such as prescribing an adult dosage for a child. CPOE systems help to reduce medication errors in the hospital.

Hospitals can earn up to 100 points for using a well-functioning CPOE system in most areas of the hospital. For details on sources, click here.

What safer hospitals do:

Hospitals use CPOE systems in all areas of the hospital and regularly test those systems to ensure they are alerting doctors to potential ordering errors.

This Hospital's Score:

120.00

Best Hospital's Score:

120.00

Average Hospital's Score:

117.40

Worst Hospital's Score:

27.69

Effective leadership to prevent errors

Errors are much more common if hospital leaders don’t make patient safety a priority. Leaders must make sure that all hospital staff knows what they need to work on and that they are held accountable for improvements. The hospital should also budget money towards improving safety.

Hospitals can earn up to 120 points for having leadership structures that increase awareness of patient safety issues and holding leadership accountable for improvements. For details on sources, click here.

What safer hospitals do:

Hospital leaders are aware of the hospital’s patient safety problems, work with hospital staff to fix them, and share their efforts with the larger community. Leaders also make it a priority to learn about and use the best methods to prevent errors and are held accountable for identifying and reducing unsafe practices.

Notes and Definitions

1. Declined to Report: The hospital was asked to provide this information to the public, but did not.

2. Not Available: “Not Available” means that the hospital does not have data for this measure. This could be because the measure is related to a service the hospital does not provide. For example, a hospital that does not have an ICU would not be able to report data about ICUs. It could also be because the hospital had too few patients or cases to report data for a particular condition or procedure. A “Not Available” result does not mean that the hospital withheld information from the public.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade scores hospitals on their overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors. The grades are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data using up to 31 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety. No specific representation is made, nor shall be implied, nor shall The Leapfrog Group be liable with respect to any individual patient’s potential or actual outcome as a result of receiving services performed at any of these hospitals. Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades cannot be republished without expressed written permission from The Leapfrog Group.