Denver, CO – Nov. 8, 2018 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit aiming to improve health care quality for consumers, employers and purchasers, announced today the fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The independent grading system assigns “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” and “F” letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the U.S. based on their ability to protect patients from avoidable errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
In Colorado, 41 hospitals were graded, and 17 earned an “A,” 7 earned a “B,” 15 earned a “C,” and 2 earned a “D”. There were no “F” hospitals in CO. Hospitals that received an “A” in Colorado are Centura Health Penrose Hospital, Centura Health St. Francis Medical Center, Centura Health St. Thomas Moore Hospital, Denver Health Medical Center, Lutheran Medical Center, McKee Medical Center, Medical Center of Aurora, North Suburban Medical Center, Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Rose Medical Center, Saint Joseph Hospital, Sky Ridge Medical Center, St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center, Sterling Regional Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, Vail Health, and Valley View Hospital.
“The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades offer Colorado employers information our community needs,” said Robert Smith, Executive Director of the Colorado Business Group on Health www.cbghealth.org
“On behalf of local employers, purchasers, and patients, we are committed to working together to make our community the safest one in America.”
The following hospitals have received several “A’s” in a row: Centura Health St. Francis Medical Center, Lutheran Medical Center, McKee Medical Center, Medical Center of Aurora, North Suburban Medical Center, Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Rose Medical Center, Saint Joseph Hospital, Sky Ridge Medical Center, St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center and Swedish Medical Center. Vail Health received its first safety grade, an “A” this fall.
In the wake of the high stakes mid-term election, neither party can claim victory in addressing preventable errors and infection in hospitals. The fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades show that 33 percent of hospitals in traditionally blue states and 32 percent of hospitals in traditionally red states earned “A’s.” As recently as September 2018, The Leapfrog Group testified at a hearing of the United States’ Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee, offering guidance for a bipartisan approach to improving transparency of patient safety data and making progress on safety.
“The Hospital Safety Grades give the American public information they need and deserve about the safety of their hospitals. Avoidable medical errors and infections in hospitals are still the third leading cause of death in the nation, and that’s not a partisan issue,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the Colorado Business Group on Health for making this a priority.”
Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign the grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, as well as individual grades and state rankings please visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Facebook and Twitter. Journalists interested in scheduling interviews should email Leapfrogpr@jpa.com.
About the Colorado Business Group on Health
The Colorado Business Group on Health (CBGH) is a purchaser-led, multi-stakeholder non-profit committed to collaboratively improving the health care value proposition for all Coloradans and their communities.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, 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.
Contact:
Robert Smith
Colorado Business Group on Health
303-922-0939
Lisa Slavinski
Colorado Business Group on Health
303-922-0939