THE LEAPFROG GROUP ANNOUNCES FALL 2019 HOSPITAL SAFETY GRADES

PRINCETON — November 7, 2019 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing the nation’s largest and most influential employers and purchasers of health care, today announced the Fall 2019 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 New Jersey, 69 acute care hospitals were graded; one more than the last round in spring, 2019. Here is the breakdown of safety grades:

• 31 A hospitals – 45 percent (same number of A’s as last round)
• 24 B hospitals – 35 percent (3 less B’s than last round)
• 12 C hospitals – 17 percent (5 more C’s than last round)
• 2 D hospital – 3 percent (1 less D than last round)
• 0 F hospital – 0 percent (Last ‘F’ was in Fall 2018)

The data shows that 55 of 69 hospitals graded received an A or B grade (80 percent) — 5.6 percent lower than last round. Nine hospitals went up in their grade, 12 hospitals went down a grade. New Jersey again had the highest rate of Leapfrog Hospital Survey participation for regions with over 50 acute care hospitals at 100 percent participation. See the Leapfrog Fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grades by New Jersey Hospital here.

“Once again, we’re pleased that every acute care hospital in our state has participated in the survey. That shows an exceptional commitment to safety and transparency,” said Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, the regional leader for Leapfrog. “Yet the latest survey also shows that concerns remain about some poorly rated hospitals — and we hope the low safety scores will galvanize their hospital leaders to commit to the difficult work needed to improve and sustain quality and safety.”

The D hospitals were East Orange General Hospital and University Hospital.

University Hospital saw improvements in several areas, including the organization’s culture of safety, patient falls and injuries, and hospital acquired infections (such as Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections, Clostridium Difficile, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Surgical Site Infections). Other safe practices remained high. While hand hygiene scores remained the same, there is room to improve. Areas where scores declined include: infections in the blood, death from serious treatable complications after surgery, and postoperative blood clot.

East Orange General Hospital also had several areas of improvement, including hospital acquired infections (such as Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections, infections in the blood, and Clostridium Difficile) and postoperative blood clots. Hand hygiene scores also remained the same but had room to improve. Areas where scores declined include: patient falls and injuries, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections (MRSA), and in the safe practices of leadership structure and communication about medications.

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 hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Facebook and Twitter. Journalists interested in scheduling interviews should email cacampbell@njhcqi.org, or Leapfrogpr@jpa.com.