Piedmont cuts serious safety events up to 90% while quintupling in size
Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare reduced serious safety events by as much as 90% over the past decade even as it grew from five hospitals to 28, the system said Aug. 10. The organization tied the improvement to a quality and safety transformation launched in 2014, when it began standardizing clinical processes during rapid expansion. Piedmont operates nearly 2,000 care locations and treats 4.5 million patients a year, according to a news release.
Piedmont earned 31 "A" safety grades from The Leapfrog Group over the past two years, more than any other health system in Georgia, and ranked in the top third nationally among similarly sized systems. The system said serious safety events fell 80% to 90% as it expanded error-prevention tools, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections dropped 60% between 2016 and 2025. Net Promoter Scores rose 12 points over the span.
The operational engine included "Promise Practice" evidence-based checklists integrated into its EHR, systemwide dashboards, Lean Six Sigma methodology, and an error-prevention model empowering front-line employees to flag concerns. Kevin Brown, Piedmont's president and CEO, framed the work as a financial strategy, saying higher quality care leads to better outcomes, greater efficiency, and lower costs. The results serve as a case study for whether quality holds up when a system swells in size.