New Hospital Safety Scores Find Room for Improvement

A new survey of patient safety at the nation’s hospitals has found “there is absolutely room for improvement,” according to Leah Binder, the president and CEO of the organization that scored over 2,500 hospitals across the U.S., including 43 here in Washington.

The Leapfrog Group recently released a new set of data to update its Hospital Safety Score, a metric that “grades” hospitals based on their success in preventing medical errors, injuries, infections, and accidents.

The updated data include both a searchable database of 2,500 hospitals nationwide and a state-by-state ranking that shows how many ranked hospitals in each U.S. state earned an “A” grade. According to the state-by-state ranking, Washington was tied with Arizona for No. 28 nationwide. In both states, only 11 hospitals of the 43 ranked – or 25.6 percent – received an “A” for patient safety. Maine topped the list with 61 percent of its hospitals earning an “A.”

A search for hospitals in the Seattle area reveals that while seven local hospitals earned an “A,” eight received a “C” in Leapfrog’s ratings. The remaining nine hospitals on the list each earned a “B.”

According to the Hospital Safety Score website, 782 of the 2,523 hospitals included in the data earned an “A” grade for safety. Twenty of the hospitals earned a failing grade of “F.” Only 45 hospitals saw their grade change by two or more letter grades since the last rankings were released. Of these, 33 improved by two or more letter grades, and 12 dropped by two or more letter grades.

The Hospital Safety Score website both includes the latest data and offers upgraded methods for sorting and understanding it, according to the press release. For the first time, users can examine not only a hospital’s current score, but also its scores from each of the previous three years. This side-by-side comparison is intended to make it easier for consumers to see if a hospital has maintained a strong performance, is showing improvement, or has regular problems with preventable medical mistakes.

The Hospital Safety Score website includes an explanation of the methodology used to analyze hospital safety data and calculate the scores. According to the methodology guidelines, the scores focus on patient safety, which the project defines as “freedom from harm.” While this measurement doesn’t include every aspect of quality care in a hospital, it is key to proper care and effective healing.

The attorneys of Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC, are committed to patient safety and represent patients who have been harmed by preventable medical errors in Seattle and across Washington. Schedule a free consultation by calling us or contacting us online.