Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

32 PATIENT SAFETY A Grades Up, F Grades Down in Updated Leapfrog Hospital Safety Scores: 5 Things to Know By Heather Punke T he Leapfrog Group released its spring 2016 Hospital Safety Score update in April, assigning A through F letter grades to 2,571 hospitals in the U.S. Here are five things to know about the spring update to Leapfrog's safety scores. 1. Leapfrog releases safety score updates twice a year, but this spring's scores included new factors, including patient satisfaction outcomes like nurse communica- tion, doctor communication and communication about discharge, as well as infection measures for Clostridium difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. 2. The breakdown of grades earned by the 2,571 scored hospitals is as follows: • 798 earned an A (up from 773 in the fall) • 639 earned a B (down from 724 in the fall) • 957 earned a C (up from 866 in the fall) • 162 earned a D (up from 133 in the fall) • 15 earned an F (down from 34 in the fall) 3. Of the 798 hospitals that earned A's this spring, 153 have earned an A grade in each update for the last three years, becoming a distinct group of "Straight A" Leapfrog hospitals. 4. Vermont had the highest percentage of A hospitals this spring, as five of its six graded hospitals earned the highest score. On the other hand, no hospitals in Alaska, Wyoming or the District of Columbia earned an A grade this spring. 5. According to Leapfrog data and analysis from John Hopkins Medicine's Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, B, C, D and F hospitals have higher risk of avoidable death than their A counterparts. In fact, there is a 9 percent higher risk of avoidable death in B hospi- tals, 35 percent higher in C and 50 percent higher in D and F hospitals. Additionally, roughly 33,440 lives could be saved if all hospitals had the same performance as A hospitals. n Where Are the 15 Leapfrog F hospitals? By Heather Punke T he number of hospitals that earned a failing grade in Leapfrog's spring Hos- pital Safety Scores release dropped from 34 in the fall to 15 this spring. Leapfrog's Hospital Safety Score assigns A through F letter grades to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals each spring and fall. e peer-reviewed grades are calculated by patient safety experts and based on patient safety, infection and patient experience metrics. is spring, hospitals with a failing grade are spread across seven states and the District of Columbia. California Downey (Calif.) Regional Medical Center Methodist Hospital of Southern California (Arcadia) Tulare (Calif.) Regional Medical Center Victor Valley Community Hospital (Victorville) Whittier (Calif.) Hospital Medical Center Washington, D.C. Providence Hospital of Washington Kansas Western Plains Medical Complex (Dodge City) Michigan UP Health System-Portage (Hancock) New Jersey Saint Michael's Medical Center (Newark) New York St. Joseph's Medical Center of Yonkers (N.Y.) Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital e Brooklyn (N.Y.) Hospital Center Wyckoff Heights Medical Center (Brooklyn) Oklahoma McAlester (Okla.) Regional Health Center Pennsylvania Clarion (Pa.) Hospital n

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