The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventing medical errors and patient harm. It is fully transparent, free to the public and updated biannually in the fall and spring.
The Group released its fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade, evaluating nearly 3,000 hospitals on their ability to prevent medical errors, accidents and infections.
The Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 30 performance measures to assign an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” to individual hospitals and uses a public, peer-reviewed methodology, calculated by top patient safety experts under the guidance of a National Expert Panel. It is transparent and free to the public. Leapfrog analysts use the data to observe national performance trends and state rankings.
For fall 2024, Utah ranks number one with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals for the third cycle in a row, followed by Virginia and Connecticut in second and third. The latest Grades also show hospitals are making progress in patient safety across several performance measures including notable improvements in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene and medication safety.
“Preventable deaths and harm in hospitals have been a major policy concern for decades. So, it is good news that Leapfrog’s latest Safety Grades reveal that hospitals across the country are making notable gains in patient safety, saving countless lives,” stated Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Next, we need hospitals to accelerate this progress – because no one should have to die from a preventable error in a hospital.”
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.
– – 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.
– – There were no “A” hospitals in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota or Vermont.
Regrettably, Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley California received a grade of “F” and seventeen California hospitals received a grade of “D.” Pacifica Hosptial was rated “D” in fall of 2021, and fell to “F” in sprint 2022 and has remained at “F” ever since.
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.