Leapfrog Reports Improvements Nationally in Healthcare-Associated Infections, Hand Hygiene and Medication Safety
The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, today released the fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. These grades provide a critical measure of patient safety for hospitals nationwide.
The fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade shows hospitals nationwide are making strides in patient safety across several performance measures including improvements in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene and medication safety.
“Preventable medical errors happen too frequently,” said Patty Starr, President & CEO of Health Action Council. “This round of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade shows improvements in patient safety across the country, which is promising. We all benefit from hospital transparency, and we can work together to continue to reduce preventable harm and advance patient safety.”
Health Action Council is a Leapfrog regional leader for Minnesota, Ohio, and Oregon. In Minnesota, 5 hospitals received an “A” grade, 6 hospitals received a “B” grade, 30 hospitals earned a “C” grade, and three hospitals received a “D” grade. In Ohio, 28 hospitals earned an “A” grade, 22 hospitals earned a “B” grade, 53 hospitals received a “C” grade, and nine hospitals earned a “D” grade. In Oregon, five hospitals earned an “A” grade, 10 hospitals earned a “B” grade, and 14 hospitals earned a “C” grade, and four hospitals received a “D” grade.
“The progress we’ve witnessed at hospitals is encouraging and worthy of applause. However, there is still much work to be done to continue making gains in patient safety,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the hospitals that are clearly focusing on prioritizing patients and their safety—an effort that takes absolute dedication from hospital staff at all levels.”
National key findings on state performance on the fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade include:
- The states with the highest percentages of "A" hospitals are Utah, Virginia, Connecticut, North Carolina, New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Colorado and South Carolina.
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- Utah ranks #1 in percentage of “A” hospitals for the third Safety Grade cycle in a row.
- California ranks in the top 10 for the first time since fall 2014.
View the Fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade State Rankings.
The Leapfrog Group has a more than 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the U.S., based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring.
Detailed hospital performance information, including patient experience and safety measures, as well as grades for individual hospitals searchable by states and localities is available at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
Learn more about the Scoring Methodology, Explanation of Hospital Safety Grades, and Frequently Asked Questions for the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.
About Health Action Council
Health Action Council is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization representing mid and large-size employers that enhances human and economic health through thought leadership, innovative services, and collaboration. It provides value to its members by facilitating projects that improve the quality and moderate the cost of healthcare purchased by its members for their employees, dependents, and retirees. Health Action Council also collaborates with key stakeholders - health plans, physicians, hospitals, and the pharmaceutical industry - to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare in the community.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among its initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 and assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. It is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring. To look up your hospital’s Safety Grade, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. For more from Leapfrog, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.