Vanderbilt University Hospital earned the highest possible grade recently in a nationwide survey of hospital patient safety.
Leapfrog Group, a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage, gave the hospital an “A” grade for its fall 2014 hospital safety evaluation.
The group compiles 28 measures of publicly available hospital data to produce its safety grades, which represent a hospital’s record of keeping patients safe from infections, injuries and medical errors. More than 2,500 hospitals are included in the evaluation.
“Consumers have largely taken the time to educate themselves about insurance plans and pricing,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. “Now, we need patients to take the next step, putting safety first, for themselves and their families, and that means seeking out the safest hospitals in their area. The Hospital Safety Score arms consumers with that information,” added Binder.
The report gave hospitals across the country grades of A, B, C, D or F. The top “A” grade was given to approximately 31 percent of hospitals. About 27 percent of the hospitals received “B” grades, 34 percent received “C” grades and about 6 percent were given “D” grades. Just 26 hospitals in the country received the lowest grade of “F.”
A complete list of hospitals included in the survey and their rankings can be found at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.
