For the third time in four years, LincolnHealth was named a Top Rural Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, one of only 25 hospitals in the nation to receive the award this year.

The award, one of the most prestigious in healthcare, was officially presented to LincolnHealth officials at a special event in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

It recognizes the quality and safety of care at hospitals as measured by outcomes — how well patients do when they receive care at a given hospital — and whether a hospital has adopted practices that have been found to improve care.

It comes at the end of a year when LincolnHealth has received a number of awards for safety, including the Volunteer Hospitals of America Platinum Award for Patient Safety. In May, a Consumer Reports article on hospital safety gave LincolnHealth, the highest safety rating of any hospital in the country.

Cindy Wade, RN, Lincoln County Healthcare Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said the Leapfrog award is recognition of a staff that is committed to being proactive by adopting new practices that improve care, while at the same time consistently doing the fundamental things that keep patients safe.

“You can get caught up in the technology but I think what is important this year is how vital the basics are — simple hand washing, getting people up and walking after surgery, doing the basics because they have always been the right thing to do,” said Wade.

Cindy Coyne, RN, Director of Quality Management and Safety at LincolnHealth, said many improvements in safety involve partnerships with patients. For example, Lincoln Medical Partners surgery practices have adopted a “scrub times three” protocol to reduce surgical site infections.

That protocol calls for nurses to teach patients the importance of scrubbing the site of surgery during pre-operation appointments. Patients then take scrub materials home and for three days prior to the surgery, they clean the area where the incision will take place. On the day of the surgery, the site is cleansed again at the hospital. The result is lower infection rates.

Adopting initiatives like the “scrub times three” protocol requires a high level of trust and cooperation between patients and staff, said Coyne.

“They have to believe you and they have to want to do what is best for themselves,” she said.

Improving safety by building partnerships with patients is easier at LincolnHealth because staff at the hospital often knows their patients and vice versa, said Wade.

“We are as successful as we have been over the years because we are part of the community. We are ingrained in the community and the community knows us and we know them,” she said.

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit that works to improve the safety, quality and affordability of health care. The Top Hospital Award recognizes institutions for their excellence in quality of care and patient safety, as well as their commitment to transparency. The selection is based on the results of The Leapfrog Group’s annual hospital survey.