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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Safe is Your Hospital?
Washington, D.C., April 25, 2016 The Leapfrog Group announced today the Spring 2016 Hospital Safety Score update, assigning letter grades to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals, assessing medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Alongside the update, Leapfrog contracted with Johns Hopkins Medicines Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality on a new report estimating the number of avoidable deaths at hospitals in each grade level. The analysis finds that despite considerable improvement in the safety of hospital care since the Scores launch in 2012, avoidable deaths remain high. Findings point to a 9% higher risk of avoidable death in B hospitals, 35% higher in C hospitals, and 50% higher in D and F hospitals, than in A hospitals.
The analysis was led by Matt Austin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. In total, the analysis showed an estimated 206,021 avoidable deaths occur in U.S. hospitals each year, a figure described as an underestimate in the analysis because the measure only accounts for a subset of avoidable harms patients may encounter in the hospital. Of the 206,021 avoidable deaths occurring in all hospitals, 162,117 occur in B, C, D, and F hospitals. The analysis concluded an estimated 33,439 lives could be saved each year if all hospitals had the same performance as those receiving an A.
The April 2016 update highlights newly-added patient experience measures shown in the research to have a relationship to improved patient safety outcomes. These include results of patient surveys about: communication about medicines, communication about discharge, nurse communication, doctor communication, and responsiveness of hospital staff. Additionally, for the first time, the Score includes two new infection measures, MRSA Bacteremia and C.difficile.
It is time for every hospital in America to put patient safety at the top of their priority list, because tens of thousands of lives are stake, said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. The Hospital Safety Score alerts consumers to the dangers, but as this analysis shows, even A hospitals are not perfectly safe.
Report Highlights Include:
Of the 2,571 hospitals issued a Hospital Safety Score, 798 earned an A, 639 earned a B, 957 earned a C, 162 earned a D and 15 earned an F.
Additionally, 153 hospitals earned the Straight A since 2013 designation, which calls attention to hospitals who have consistently received an A grade for safety in the last three years of Hospital Safety Scores.
Maine, which has had the highest percentage of A hospitals for the last four rounds of the Score, dipped to second behind Vermont, where 83 percent of its hospitals achieved an A. This is the first time Vermont has claimed the number-one spot.
Alternatively, for the third year, zero hospitals in the District of Columbia received an A grade. Similarly, Arkansas and Wyoming had no hospitals with an A grade.
http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/about-us/newsroom/display/442022
Searchable dateabase at link.
I had no results for 10 and 50 miles, and one "A" and two "C" hospitals within 100 miles.
Jackie Wilson Said
(4,176 posts)WhiteTara
(29,719 posts)Our little town hospital isn't even listed. Yikes.
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)Hospital rating: C
WTH? Do I shop? The doctor has good ratings. That's why I have to wait until June. Just damn. I expected an A. Damn.
mnhtnbb
(31,396 posts)I shopped docs for a specific procedure--anterior approach--because no one in the Research Triangle of NC did
it at the time.
I live in Chapel Hill--UNC is in my back yard--and Duke 20 minutes away. I ended up going to Charlotte and was
very happy with the result.
I am a retired hospital administrator--married to a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst--and have experience in knowing what to look for/
pay attention to when hospitalized.
If you have someone with medical knowledge who can be with you while you are hospitalized, go for it. Do not stay a minute
longer than you have to because you increase your risk of exposure to bacteria and the chance of someone making a mistake.
Everyone who works in a hospital is human; humans make mistakes. They can be tired, overworked, preoccupied with personal
issues. Any one of those situations can cause someone to lose focus.
I've looked at these ratings for local hospitals and I have to laugh. You couldn't pay me to have any kind of a procedure at Duke (A rating)
because I'm aware of some really serious mistakes having been made there, including someone who woke up with having had
a surgery on the wrong shoulder.
Your best bet--when hospitalized anywhere--is to have an advocate--someone familiar with hospitals and medical care-- with you as much as possible to make sure you get
the care/attention you need.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)I was in a VA hospital for a left hip replacement in the 80s, and my wife at the time
-- bless her heart -- noticed that my doc's orders called for replacing my RIGHT hip,
not the left.
Even when they got the correct hip, they botched the surgery, but at least got the
correct hip.
mnhtnbb
(31,396 posts)which is to have the procedure.
I did prior to my hip replacement.
The procedure for doing hip replacement has changed a LOT since the 80's. The anterior replacement that I had--developed
in California--involved no muscles being cut. I was weight bearing on the leg the next day. No restrictions for crossing
legs or bending. Off the walker after 10 days and no cane after 3 weeks. Also, it doesn't require general anesthesia
but can be done with an epidural.
likesmountains 52
(4,098 posts)Mercy has an "A". Aren't you within 50? I work there!
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)likesmountains 52
(4,098 posts)Response to Control-Z (Reply #5)
likesmountains 52 This message was self-deleted by its author.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)Farmington and Montrose were the other two that came back. The local hospital must be too small, I guess.
trof
(54,256 posts)I'll drive 30 miles away to an ER.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)They rank a C. My wife has had at least 3 surgeries there
2cannan
(344 posts)which provides info about surgeons and hospitals for certain procedures/surgeries:
https://projects.propublica.org/surgeons/
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)My current hospital - MGH in Boston - has an A. A lot of the Boston hospitals are pretty highly rated. But I was shocked at how poorly rated even the "good" NYC hospitals were! I wonder if it's just because it's so much easier to make mistakes when you have that large of a population to service.