Becker's Hospital Review

49 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY 32% of hospitals earn 'A' safety grade in Leapfrog's spring update By Mackenzie Bean L eapfrog released its spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grades May 15, as- signing "A" through "F" letter grades to more than 2,600 acute care hospitals for patient safety performance. Leapfrog releases the safety grades every fall and spring. e ratings are based on 28 quality measures compiled by the Leapfrog Group, CMS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the CDC, and the American Hospital Association. Areas of measurement include nurse communication, hand hygiene adherence and surgical site infection rates, among others. Five things to know: 1. Of the more than 2,600 hospitals graded, 32 percent earned an "A" grade, 26 percent earned a "B," 36 percent earned a "C," 6 percent earned a "D," and less than 1 percent earned an "F." 2. Wyoming, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Delaware and North Da- kota had no hospitals with "A" grades this spring. 3. e five states with the highest percentage of "A" hospitals were Oregon (58 percent), Virginia (53 percent), Maine (50 percent), Massachusetts (48.3 percent) and Utah (48 percent). 4. For the spring update, Leapfrog contracted with the Johns Hopkins Arm- strong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality to update its mortality esti- mates linked to medical errors, infections and injuries at graded hospitals. Researchers found that patients treated at hospitals given a "D" or "F" safety grade face a 92 percent higher risk of avoidable death, compared to 88 per- cent for "C" hospitals and a 35 percent for "B" hospitals. 5. Forty-one hospitals nationwide have earned an "A" rating in every scor- ing update since the ranking system's inception in spring 2012. n Mount Sinai medical school to cap student debt at $75K By Alia Paavola I cahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City will expand its scholarship program so medical students with the greatest financial need graduate with no more than $75,000 in debt, becoming another institution to address the massive debt burden facing medical students, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Enhanced Scholarship Initiative will target students with the greatest financial need and cover the entire cost of attendance, including such items as tuition, housing, food and books. Under the program, students will bor- row no more than $18,750 per year to cover these costs. Currently, tuition for an academic year at Icahn School of Medicine is $53,000. The median debt for medical stu- dents who graduated in 2018 was $192,000. The aim of the plan, which will launch in the 2019-2020 school year, is to help diversify the class, encourage new applicants and reduce the stress that can come from debt, the medical school said. The move follows other recent debt-relief efforts at New York City-based medical schools, including New York University, which announced it would cover tuition for all of its medical students, and Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, which an- nounced a debt-relief program that eliminates loans for all students. n IU Health to build its own neurosurgery team as local group resists employment By Emily Rappleye W hile Indianapolis-based Indiana Uni- versity Health and local neurosurgery group Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine are at odds over employment, the health system has decided to individually hire for its neurosurgery team, according to Indiana Busi- ness Journal's "The Dose" blog. Goodman Campbell physicians have histori- cally staffed the neurosurgery department at IU Health's medical school. IU Health hoped to em- ploy Goodman Campbell's physicians as part of its physician employment strategy, which it says helps improve care coordination. The system cur- rently employs about 1,800 practitioners, accord- ing to the report. However, the 50-physician neurosurgery group said it wants to stay independent so it can maintain admission privileges at several health systems in central Indiana. IU Health decided to take a different tack. The sys- tem has hired away five pediatric neurosurgeons and three nurse practitioners from Goodman Campbell, according to IBJ. Goodman Campbell physicians have maintained staff privileges at the health system. n

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