Leapfrog releases Fall 2018 safety grades showing medical errors, safety issues prevail in red and blue states

Putting a political spin on its semi-annual release, the Leapfrog Group revealed their Fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, which assessed more than 2,600 hospitals across the country and found that serious harm or death from medical errors are a major issue "across blue and red states," Leapfrog said.

WHY IT MATTERS
Preventable errors and infections in hospitals kill more than 500 people every day in the United States, Leapfrog said. The group's grading system assigns "A," "B," "C," "D" and "F" letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the United States focusing exclusively on errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is reviewed by a National Expert Panel, receives guidance from the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine and is peer-reviewed.

THE TREND
For the fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, 33 percent of hospitals in traditionally blue states and 32 percent of hospitals in traditionally red states received "A's."
The five states with the highest percentage of "A" hospitals this fall are New Jersey, generally perceived as a blue state, Oregon (blue), Virginia (blue), Massachusetts (blue), and Texas (red).
Red states with the highest percentage of "A" hospitals are Texas, which had 43 percent of their assessed hospitals awarded A's, North Carolina with 43 percent and Ohio with 42 percent.
The five states with the lowest number of "A" hospitals are Connecticut, a blue state; Nebraska, red; Washington, D.C., blue; Delaware, blue; and North Dakota, red.
The analysis of red and blue states was checked against the interactive electoral map, 270toWin, and was based on data from the 2016 presidential election, Leapfrog said.

ON THE RECORD
"Healthcare was an important issue in the 2018 mid-term elections, yet both parties are still neglecting the third leading cause of death in America -- errors and infections in hospitals," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "Every elected official, from city councilors to senators, to the president, should hold hospitals accountable and support efforts to improve patient safety."

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW
Of more than 2,600 hospitals graded, a total of 32 percent earned A's, 24 percent earned B's, 37 scored C's, 6 percent got D's and just under 1 percent received an F.

Hospitals with "F" grades are located in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Carolina. There were no A-ranked hospitals in Washington, D.C., Delaware or North Dakota and 42 hospitals nationwide have achieved an "A" in every grading update since the launch of the Safety Grade in spring 2012.

To find your hospital's grade, click here.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com