Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Hospitals in five states make big improvements in patient safety; some rural hospitals stand out

Independent nonprofit The Leapfrog Group has released the Fall 2017 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, a twice-yearly report that assigns a letter grade of A through F to general, acute-care hospitals in the U.S. Leapfrog found that five states made significant improvements in their overall percentage of A-grade hospitals since the safety grades were first calculated in 2012: Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Notably, many of the A-grade hospitals in those states are in small towns. Some examples include:
  • Hawaii: Lihue (on Kauai) and Ewa Beach (on Oahu)
  • Idaho: Rexburg and Twin Falls
  • Oregon: The Dalles, Grants Pass, Redmond and Roseburg
  • Rhode Island: Narragansett, Newport
  • Wisconsin: Beaver Dam, Burlington, Elkhorn, Monroe and Portage
The five states with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals this fall are Rhode Island, Maine, Hawaii, Idaho and Virginia. The five states with the lowest percentage of “A” hospitals this fall are North Dakota, Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland and New York.

"What we’ve learned is that transparency has a real impact on patient safety. By making the Hospital Safety Grades public, we’ve galvanized major changes in these states and many communities," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. "Not only does it require dedication from national organizations, such as Leapfrog, to make this information public, but also from local coalitions, regional leaders, employers, business leaders and other community organizations to work with these hospitals and their communities to improve the quality and safety of health care."

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