Patients who seek treatment at a well-known, top-rated hospital are not necessarily less likely to acquire a deadly infection, according to analysis from Consumer Reports Health.
Rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections, which account for nearly one-third of hospital infection deaths each year, were high at many large academic medical centers, despite their reputations as patient-safety leaders.
“Most of us think of teaching hospitals as setting the standard for the right way to do things, so it's surprising to see so many teaching hospitals near the bottom of the list,” Dr. John Santa, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, said in a release. “We are also concerned about the large number of hospitals that choose not to share their data.”
Of the hospitals that reported zero central line-associated bloodstream infections, most were small- to medium-sized institutions, according to the analysis.
In a companion analysis that looked specifically at large health systems, researchers found significant variations in safety from one hospital to another. For instance, the eight hospitals within the Cleveland Clinic Health System that report central line infections had an overall rate that was 41% worse than the national average.
“The big takeaway for consumers is that you can't judge a hospital's commitment to patient safety based on the flagship hospital,” Santa said in the release.
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