Hospital Safety Score Card: Some Slippage in Michigan

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DETROIT, MI – Four southeast Michigan hospitals received “A” grades in a national ranking of 2,500 hospitals nationwide on improvements in the prevention of errors, injuries, accidents and infections, according to a new study released Monday.

The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit founded by employers and health-care providers, announced its Spring 2016 hospital safety rankings Monday, a measure of how safe a hospital is for patients.

Leapfrog also conducted an analysis with researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine's Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. They estimated that 206,021 avoidable deaths occur each year in U.S. hospitals.

Hospitals were given a letter grade from "A" through "F" based on several factors. Of the 2,571 hospitals studied nationwide, 798 earned an "A," 639 earned a "B," 957 earned a "C," 162 earned a "D" and 15 earned an "F."

At the state level, Vermont was ranked No. 1 on their state safety rankings list. Six hospitals in the state were ranked, and five were given an A grade. Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Minnesota rounded out the top five.

State rankings were based on a percentage of state hospitals receiving an "A" grade.

• See the full list of hospital safety scores here.

Leapfrog looked at medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections to determine the grades. The goal was to determine a patient's risk of further injury or infection if they visited a certain hospital.

Hospitals given a "B" rating by Leapfrog had a 9 percent higher risk of avoidable death than "A" hospitals. That number jumps to 35 percent in "C" hospitals and 50 percent higher in "D" and "F" hospitals.

Patch has reached out to Leapfrog for more information, and we'll let you know when we hear back.

The Leapfrog Group, which takes the pulse of hospitals twice a year, said that if every hospital adhered to the same standards as those receiving an “A” grade, 33,000 lives would be saved a year.

The April 2016 update includes newly added patient experience measures shown in the research to have a relationship to improved patient safety outcomes. These include results of patient surveys about: communication about medicines, communication about discharge, nurse communication, doctor communication, and responsiveness of hospital staff.

Additionally, for the first time, the Score includes two new infection measures, MRSA Bacteremia and C.difficile.

The southeast Michigan hospitals earning "A" grades included Huron Valley – Sinai Hospital, Commerce Township; Garden City Hospital; University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor; and St. Joseph – Chelsea.

The only “F” grade for a Michigan hospital was for UP Health System –Portage in Hancock.

Michigan ranked 26th among the states for hospital safety, according to the Score Card report, down from 21st in the fall.

Here are the results for southeast Michigan (comparisons to fall 2015 rankings where available):

Hospitals Earning “A” Grades

Huron Valley – Sinai Hospital, Commerce Township (“A” in fall 2015)

Garden City Hospital

University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor (“A” in fall 2015)

St. Joseph – Chelsea (“B” in fall 2015)

Hospitals Earning B Grades

Beaumont Hospital – Dearborn (“C” in fall 2015)

Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit (“C” in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Taylor

Beaumont Hospital – Trenton (“C” in fall 2015)

St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia (“A” in fall 2015)

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital (“B” in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Troy (“A” in fall 2015)

McLaren – Oakland, Pontiac (“B” in fall 2015)

Hospitals Earning “C” Grades

Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital (“C” in fall 2015)

Harper-Hutzel Hospital, Detroit (“C” in fall 2015)

Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center (“A” in fall 2015)

Sinai Grace Hospital, Detroit (“B” in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Wayne (“B” in fall 2015)

Providence Hospital, Southfield (“A” grade in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Farmington Hills (“C” in fall 2015)

St. John Oakland Hospital, Madison Heights (“B” in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak (“B” in fall 2015)

Beaumont Hospital – Grosse Pointe (“B” in fall 2015)

St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit (“A” in fall 2015)

St. John Macomb Hospital, Warren (“B” in fall 2015)

Providence Park Hospital, Novi (“A” in fall 2015)

St. Joseph Mercy – Oakland, Pontiac (“B” in fall 2015)

Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, Clinton Township (“B” in fall 2015)

St. Joseph Mercy – Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti

McLaren – Flint (“B” in fall 2015)

St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital, Howell (“C” in fall 2015)

Hospital Earning “D” Grades

McLaren – Macomb, Mount Clemens (“C” in fall 2015)

Hurley Medical Center, Flint (“F” grade in fall 2015)