Pressure Ulcers

What Are We Measuring?

The Patient Safety Indicator 03 (PSI 03), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), tracks the rate of serious pressure ulcers (stage 3, stage 4, or unstageable) that develop during a hospital stay. This measure helps identify preventable patient safety events — specifically hospital‑acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) — and highlights opportunities to strengthen care practices such as skin assessments, repositioning routines, and overall nursing care.

How Well Are We Doing?

This graph reflects the January data refresh on the CMS Care Compare website, covering the January 2024, 2025, and 2026 reporting cycles. A lower rate indicates stronger performance. Hendricks Regional Health has steadily reduced its PSI‑03 rate year over year and outperformed the national rate in the most recent cycle.

What Are We Doing to Prevent Pressure Ulcers?

• Hendricks Regional Health has strong, reliable processes in place for assessing, preventing, and treating pressure injuries, tailored to the unique needs of each patient. Our interprofessional Skin Committee meets monthly to review performance and enhance practices across the organization.
• When patients arrive for emergency care, surgery, or hospital admission, nurses use a “four‑eyes” skin assessment — two nurses examining the patient together to identify any existing pressure injuries. This approach continues throughout the patient’s stay, ensuring early detection and timely treatment.
• To prevent pressure injuries from developing, we take many proactive steps, including turning patients at least every two hours, using specialized beds and support surfaces, providing optimal nutrition, and ensuring access to clinicians with advanced skin‑care expertise.
• In the rare instance that a pressure injury develops during a hospital stay, treatment begins quickly to support healing. In partnership with the HRH Wound Healing Center, a wound‑care certified clinical nurse specialist rounds on all hospitalized patients with pressure injuries to ensure the most effective treatments are in place.

Learn More

We encourage patients and family members to use many of the different resources available to compare and choose a hospital or healthcare provider. Examples include Medicare.gov Care Compare and Leapfrog Ratings as well as talking with your healthcare provider.