The Leapfrog Group released the spring 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which assigns a letter grade to nearly 3,000 U.S. general hospitals based on over 30 measures of patient safety. The Safety Grade is the only rating solely focused on a hospital’s ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. The latest grades provide a look at the impact of COVID‐19 on patient safety, with several measures included in the grade showing a significant decline.
The updated Hospital Safety Grades are published alongside a new report from The Leapfrog Group, Patient Experience During the Pandemic: Adult Inpatient Care. The report provides further insight into how patient experience has declined between the pre‐pandemic and mid‐pandemic timeframe.
Included in the over 30 measures of patient safety used to calculate the Hospital Safety Grades are five measures of patient experience that research has shown have a direct tie to patient safety outcomes. For example, enhanced communication with providers and about medications can lead to lower rates of hospital‐acquired conditions like sepsis and blood clots, fewer surgical complications, and decreases in incidence of respiratory failure.
Across all states, highlights of findings from the spring 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade include:
- Thirty‐three percent of hospitals received an “A,” 24% received a “B,” 36% received a “C,” 7% received a “D,” and less than 1% received an “F.”
- Five states with the highest percentages of “A” hospitals are North Carolina, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, and Michigan.
- There were no “A” hospitals in Wyoming, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or North Dakota.
Read more:
- Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade: HospitalSafetyGrade.org
- Leapfrog Group Report: Patient Experience During the Pandemic: Adult Inpatient Care