Leapfrog Group Finds Significant Improvements in Patient Safety
The nonprofit Leapfrog Group’s fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade report shows that hospitals are making progress in patient safety across several performance measures including notable improvements in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene and medication safety.
The report evaluates 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 patient safety experts under the guidance of a national expert panel.
The report also tracks state-level performance. 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.
"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," said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, in a statement. “Next, we need hospitals to accelerate this progress—because no one should have to die from a preventable error in a hospital.”
Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
Since Leapfrog reported Hospital Safety Grades in fall 2022, when HAI rates were at their highest peak since 2016, average HAI scores have declined dramatically:
• Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) decreased by 38%
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) decreased by 36%
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) decreased by 34%
Hand Hygiene
As Leapfrog detailed in its 2024 Hand Hygiene Report, since Leapfrog began public reporting a tough new standard for hand hygiene in 2020, the percentage of hospitals achieving the standard has soared from 11% to 78%.
Medication Safety
Medication errors are the most common type of error that occur in hospitals and the new Hospital Safety Grade suggests improvements in how hospitals prevent them. Two of the measures in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade show this progress:
Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE): Leapfrog tracks how well hospitals use CPOE systems to catch common errors in prescribing, such as prescribing the wrong dose or prescribing a medication with a dangerous interaction with other medications the patient takes. Studies have shown CPOE systems can reduce harm from prescriber errors by as much as 55%. In 2018, only 65.6% of hospitals met Leapfrog’s Standard, while this year, that number rose to 88.1%.
Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA): Leapfrog scores hospitals on deployment of BCMA systems, which use barcodes at the bedside to ensure the right patient gets the right medication at the right time. In 2018, 47.3% of graded hospitals met the standard, while this year, 86.9% did.
Trends by State
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. 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.
“Despite improvements seen in this fall’s Safety Grade, significant variation in performance remains across U.S. hospitals,” Binder added. “That’s why it’s so important for people to consult grades when making decisions about seeking care. All hospitals are not the same.”
