Approximately one third of acute care hospitals in the United States earned an "A" grade for patient safety, according to the Fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report, a quality check on a hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, infections, and injuries.
The Fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade assigned grades to 2901 general acute care hospitals. Overall, 32% of the hospitals received an A grade, 26% received a B, 35% received a C, 7% received a D, and less than 1% received an F. The states were ranked in order of their percentage of A-grade hospitals. States with the highest percentages of A-grade hospitals were Virginia (56.2%), North Carolina (55.1%), Idaho (53.9%), Massachusetts (51.7%), and Colorado 48.8%). At the other end of the spectrum, no hospitals in Delaware, North Dakota, or Washington, DC, earned an A grade.
The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers focused on healthcare safety. The organization's goal is to support quality and safety in healthcare in the United States. The semiannual Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A to F to acute care hospitals across the country. The Fall 2021 report was based on 22 measures, and marks the first-time inclusion of post-operative sepsis, blood leakage, and falls that can lead to hip injury.
