58% of hospitals earn A or B in latest safety report from Leapfrog
The Leapfrog Group’s 2018 Hospital Safety Grades found that a handful of facilities have made major strides in reducing infection rates and deaths due to error. Of the 2,500 hospitals examined, 89 receiving an A this year had previously been rated as a D or F.
In total, 30 percent of hospitals received an A, 28 percent received a B, 35 percent received a C, 6 percent received a D and 1 percent were given an F.
“The national numbers on death and harm in hospitals have alarmed us for decades. What we see in the new round of Safety Grades are signs of many hospitals making significant improvements in their patient safety record,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, in a release. “Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades have definitely spurred these improvement efforts. But the hospitals achieving new milestones are doing the hard work, and we salute them as well as the leaders, researchers and organizations fighting every year for patient safety.”
The biannual study rates acute-care hospitals for errors, accidents, injuries and infections—incidents that are, collectively, the third leading cause of death in the United States.
While Leapfrog noted overall improvement, 49 hospitals have received an A in every survey since the report was launched in 2012. Hawaii, Idaho, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia led all states with the highest percentage of A-rated facilities.
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.