Dive Brief:
- The Leapfrog Group has updated its hospital safety rankings, and concluded that though safety hazards persist even among more prestigious health care institutions, there has been safety improvement, FierceHealthcare reports.
- Nearly one in three hospitals improved their performance by 10% or more since 2012, with many improvements related to safer practices or processes such as better staffing levels or hand hygiene.
- Of 2,522 ranked hospitals, 804 scored an A, 668 scored a B, 878 scored a C, 150 a D and 22 an F.
Dive Insight:
Although improvements in safety rankings are encouraging, progress must continue, especially with hospital-acquired infections affecting one in 25 patients, said Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder in a Leapfrog statement. Hospital-acquired infections remain a major problem for the health care system, despite focused efforts to fight them.