Dive Brief:
- A new study of U.S. hospitals has concluded that while medication safety has improved, hospital-acquired infection rates are still troublesome.
- The study, which was done by healthcare watchdog group Leapfrog in cooperation with Castlight Health, concluded that use of computerized physician order entry has climbed, an approach proven to reduce medication errors.
- On the other hand, it found that maternity care continues to need improvement: Episiotomy rates could be better and there is a lag in the number of hospitals taking key precautions to cut harm to mothers and newborns.
Dive Insight:
A record number of hospitals participated in the Leapfrog/Castlight survey this year, with 37% of hospitals nationwide, or 1,437 hospitals, submitting survey responses. All told, they paint a very mixed picture of hospital safety, one which should concern both health leaders and public policy makers.
Notably, not only are some problem areas getting worse—such as high-risk deliveries—but there's significant variation in survival rates for high-risk procedures across responding hospitals. Leapfrog suggests that consumers ought to check its ratings before having procedures done, something that hospitals might argue, as many suggest that variability in their performance is due to the patient mix, not their operations and care. But nonetheless, on a broad level at least, Leapfrog data continues to offer important food for thought.
Want to read more? You may want to check out this story about the recent Senate hearing blasting hospitals for unsafe care.