Dive Brief:
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The Leapfrog Group highlighted an AHRQ study showing a 21% decrease in hospital-acquired conditions since 2010 in the release of its new hospital safety report.
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In its latest release, the organization found states with the highest percentage of grade A hospitals are Maine (68.8%), Hawaii (66.7%), Oregon (59.4%), Wisconsin (57.9%), and Idaho (55.4%). States with the lowest grades are New Mexico (6.7%), Nevada (5.3%), Alaska (0.0%), Delaware (0.0%), North Dakota (0.0%, and District of Columbia (0.0%).
- A total of 2,639 hospitals were rated and 823 earned an A, 706 earned a B, 933 earned a C, 167 earned a D, and 10 earned an F.
Dive Insight:
As was the case when Leapfrog Group last released rankings in fall 2016, the most common grade awarded was a C. A total of 21 fewer earned an A grade, even though three hospitals were added to the rankings. However, the number of hospitals earning an F dropped by one-half since last fall and by more than two-thirds since fall 2015.
While hospital-acquired conditions have declined and hospitals have made strides toward improving patient safety, there is reason for patients to be concerned. Recent research suggests outcomes are better for patients at hospitals that perform strongly against quality compared with patients at hospitals that don’t.
Patients at hospitals performing poorly against quality measures were three times more likely to die and 13 times more likely to experience complications than patients at high-performing hospitals, according to a study published last December by PLOS ONE. Patients admitted to certain emergency departments are also more likely to die than patients submitted to others, according to research published in February.