Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Safety & Quality
May 10, 2022 04:56 PM

Leapfrog Group safety grades steady for most hospitals despite pandemic

Mari Devereaux
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    GettyImages-950193102_RGB_i_i copy_i.png
    Getty Images

    The COVID-19 pandemic led to mixed results on hospital safety, according to the latest data from the Leapfrog Group.

    The Leapfrog Group assessed approximately 2,800 general acute care hospitals for the report published Tuesday. Among those, 20.3% got higher safety scores in spring 2022 than a year before and 22.4% received lower grades. The majority—57.2%—rated the same in 2021 and 2022.

    North Carolina had the highest share of hospitals earning "A" grades at 59.8%. Virginia and Utah followed closely behind, with 59.2% and 55.6% of hospitals at "A" levels respectively.

    Wyoming, the District of Columbia, West Virginia and North Dakota fared the worst in that regard, with no hospitals receiving "A" grades.

    "We sympathize with the stress that hospitals are under," Leapfrog Group President and CEO Leah Binder said. "At the same time, though, people are entrusting their lives in hospitals, so we hold them to a higher standard. Even under all that stress, we need them to be as safe as possible for their patients."

    Ranking hospitals based on their abilities to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections enables them to identify opportunities to improve and to set goals, Binder said.

    This year, 33% of hospitals received "A's," 24% received "B's," 36% received "C's," 7% received "D's" and less than 1% received "F's." Although grades for individual hospitals have shifted, the overall picture is mostly unchanged from 2021.

    The consequences for patients can be significant, according to a study Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers published in 2019. At "B"-rated hospitals, patients are 35% more likely to die from preventable errors than at hospitals with "A" grades. The estimated relative risk of avoidable death is 91.8% higher at "D" and "F" hospitals than at "A" hospitals.

    Guaranteeing safety and quality requires accountability, Binder said. Governing boards must prioritize these goals and CEO compensation should be linked to performance, she said.

    Health systems lacked complete information about how their safety systems performed while they were contending with the ongoing pandemic, which accounts for the downgrades at some facilities, said Nidia Williams, vice president of quality and safety for Lifespan Health System in Providence, Rhode Island. Given the intensified focus on safety and infection control during a global outbreak of a highly contagious virus, the negative results were unexpected, she said.

    "We didn't realize that the patient population was different, and required an awful lot of care, treatment, time, energy and resources that we weren't necessarily prepared for," said Williams, who is president-elect of the National Association for Healthcare Quality's board of directors.

    Numerous factors contributed to hospitals' safety grades fluctuating during this period, said Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety policy at the American Hospital Association. For instance, travel nurses may not be fully trained on a hospital's safety and infection control practices, Foster said.

    And patients who delayed care because of the pandemic may have arrived sicker and required interventions such as ventilators or catheters that pose risks of infection and other adverse events, said Akin Demehin, the AHA's senior director of policy.

    In spite of the challenges, hospitals have endeavored to be diligent about tracking ways the pandemic affected safety, Demehin said. More than 90% continued to submit healthcare-associated infection reports even though the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made that optional, he said.

    Health systems have begun using technology and predictive analysis to anticipate and prevent potential safety incidents, said Rick Kes, a healthcare industry senior analyst at RSM. These technologies can allow hospitals to pinpoint where and when safety events occur and take steps to address those conditions, he said.

    The Leapfrog Group issued a separate report Tuesday that analyzes hospitals' submissions to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey. In general, patients' opinions of their experiences at inpatient facilities have declined during the pandemic, the report shows. Patients rated care transitions, hospital staff responsiveness and medication communication least favorably. The organization issued its findings about outpatient facilities last week.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    22--Targeted-Cancer-Therapies_edit copy_i.png
    Cancer deaths in Black people drop; still higher than others
    legal_gavel_dark_i.png
    20 years after spate of hospital deaths, ex-worker accused
    Sponsored Content
    COVID-19 Coverage Newsletter: Sign up today to receive a comprehensive daily newsletter designed for healthcare leaders looking for the most accurate and comprehensive resources related to coronavirus.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing