How safe is your hospital? Check these Leapfrog Group grades to find out.

A new report from the Leapfrog Group, a patient safety organization, indicates that hospitals which receive high safety grades are more likely to be part of larger health systems. Of the hospitals that earned an "A" grade in the report released November 13, 94% were part of systems with two or more hospitals, suggesting these larger systems may have consistent safety plans across their facilities. Leah Binder, CEO of Leapfrog Group, noted that these larger systems often have the resources to prioritize quality improvement. The report also ranked states based on the percentage of hospitals receiving an "A" grade, with Utah having the highest proportion. Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming were the only states with no hospitals achieving an "A" grade. Hospital chains made up a significant portion of all graded hospitals and received the majority of "A" grades. Major chains like HCA Healthcare had numerous hospitals achieve top marks, while smaller chains also saw all their graded facilities earn "A"s. Leapfrog's hospital safety grades are based on 22 measures of data from Medicare and Medicaid, adverse events, and a hospital survey, developed with input from patient safety experts. This effort to improve transparency in hospital safety comes in response to historical reports of high numbers of medical errors and preventable harm in hospitals. Increased focus on patient safety, including Medicare's payment adjustments for underperforming hospitals, has contributed to general improvements in safety metrics. However, some hospitals, including several owned by Tenet Healthcare, have received "F" grades and are pushing back against Leapfrog's methodology. Five Tenet-owned Florida hospitals have filed a lawsuit, alleging Leapfrog's grading system is a "brazen pay-to-play scheme" that misleads the public and harms hospitals.... download the app to read more