Leapfrog gives 782 hospitals an 'A' for safety, while others fall short

Those had the highest scores when weighing their ability to prevent errors, accidents and injuries during hospital stays, using 18 safety measures gleaned from its own surveys, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality surveys and data from the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Hospital ratings firm The Leapfrog Group gave top marks to 782 hospitals for patient safety on Wednesday in an update to its full database of rankings.

[List: See which hospitals got an 'A']

Those 782 had the highest scores when weighing their ability to prevent errors, accidents and injuries during hospital stays, using 28 safety measures gleaned from its own surveys, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality surveys and data from the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

[List: See which hospitals failed]

The release comes after competing agency Healthgrades released its top hospitals list for patient safety, though Leapfrog’s database includes facilities that scored average, below-average, or flat-out failed when it comes to patient safety.

CMS also recently released a star ranking system for hospital safety.

[Also: 251 hospitals earn 5 stars in new CMS rankings]

According to Leapfrog, of the more than 2,500 hospitals rated, 782 earned an ‘A,’ 719 earned a ‘B,’ 859 earned a ‘C,’ 143 earned a ‘D’ and 20 earned an ‘F.’

It also named 182 hospitals with “straight As” for consistently scoring top marks in its annual rankings.

However, Leapfrog said now that it has been ranking hospitals for several years it has a better sense of how well systems are improving … or not. For example, despite significant investments by hospitals on quality, safety and digital enhancements since 2014, many mandated by CMS reporting programs, safety hasn’t improved that much, the group said.

[Also: 494 hospitals earn Healthgrades safety awards]

“With 40 percent of hospitals receiving a C, D or F grade, there is absolutely room for improvement,” said Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder in a statement.

For example, the District of Columbia hasn’t seen a hospital earn an ‘A’ in four years. North Dakota and Arkansas also saw no ‘A’ grades this year.

On the other hand, Maine, where Healthcare Finance is based, had the highest percentage of hospitals with ‘A’ grades.

Here’s the full state-by-state breakdown (Note: Maryland does not disclose safety data and is not included):

Twitter: @HenryPowderly