Michigan hospitals scored slightly worse on the latest safety report card from The Leapfrog Group, with fewer “A’s” and more “C’s” than previous iterations of the bi-annual assessment.
Among 81 of the state’s hospitals, 25 received an overall “A” grade, 28 received a “B” grade, 23 received a “C” grade, and one received a “D” during the fall 2022 assessment. Another four hospitals were not graded, according to data released last week from the national non-profit watchdog organization.
For a decade now, the group has evaluated hospitals based on how well they protect patients from preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as reported by the institutions themselves and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Hospitals are also evaluated against national averages for criteria like hospital leadership, staff communication, and efficient quantity of qualified nurses.
The hospital-specific report cards are available biannually in the spring and fall.
Nationally, about 30% of the nearly 3,000 assessed hospitals received an “A” grade this fall, while about 28% received a “B,” 36% received a “C,” 6% received a “D,” and 1% received an “F.” That put Michigan in line with the percentage of “A” grades, and above average in the rate of “B” grades.
Michigan had 16 fewer “A” graded hospitals this fall compared to the spring. In that span, the organization dolled out six more “B” marks, six more “C” grades, and did not grade four hospitals.
Excluding hospitals with no grade, 45 hospitals maintained their grades from spring to fall. Of the rest, 25 had a lower overall grade in the fall compared to the spring, while seven improved their score.
Below is an interactive map of Michigan. Hover over each colored dot to see the hospital’s fall 2022 safety grades, according to The Leapfrog Group. Each hospital also includes a comparison of its last three years of grades if available.
(Leapfrog does not grade military or Veteran’s Affairs hospitals, critical access hospitals, specialty hospitals, children’s hospitals, or outpatient surgery centers.)
Can’t see the map? Click here.
Of Michigan’s 83 counties, 21 are home to at least one “A” graded hospital. The four counties with more than one “A” level hospital were Berrien, Ottawa, St. Clair and Washtenaw.
Nine hospitals have maintained an “A” grade for at least the last eight reports going back to 2019. They include:
- Chelsea Hospital in Chelsea
- Covenant Medical Center in Saginaw
- Henry Ford Jackson Hospital
- Lake Huron Medical Center in Port Huron
- McLaren Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant
- Spectrum Health United in Greenville
- Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital in Zeeland
- University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor
- UP Health System in Hancock
The group graded 13 hospitals in the state’s most populous county, Wayne. Garden City Hospital received the lone “A” in the area, while Detroit Medical Center-Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit received the state’s only “D” grade.
Of the six hospitals given a “D” or lower in 2019, each has shown improvement. Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital’s in Warren and Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit have improved to “B” level, while Ascension Hospital in Madison Heights, Ascension Providence in Rochester, Hurley Medical Center in Flint and McLaren in Pontiac have improved to “C” status.
Meanwhile, six hospitals have dropped two letter grades from an “A” to a “C” during that three-year span. They include Bronson in Battle Creek, Henry Ford Health in Clinton Township, Memorial Healthcare in Owosso, Munson Healthcare in Gaylord, ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital, and St. Joseph Mercy in Pontiac.
Below is a searchable database of each hospital’s last four years of safety grades, according to The Leapfrog Group. Type in the name of a hospital to see its latest results compared to previous years.
Can’t see the database? Click here.
Hospitals without a grade included MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alpena, Alma, Midland and West Branch. They were missing key measures. All four received grades in the spring.
For more detailed assessments of your local hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org, select Michigan and pick a hospital.
Nationally, there have been reported declines in safety issues over the last decade, including nearly a 25% decrease in incidents of falls and trauma, as well as incidents of objects unintentionally being left in a body after surgery.
In recent years, The Leapfrog Group has also noted a:
- 22% decrease in MRSA staph infections, which can spread in hospitals and other community settings.
- 43% decrease in central line-associated bloodstream infections, which can be prevented by caregivers following safety precautions while inserting a catheter into the vein for fluids, drugs or blood transfusions.
- 8% decrease in infections from clostridioides difficile (c. diff), a germ that causes diarrhea and can be caused by taking antibiotics.
Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said the last decade of hospital report cards coincides with historical improvements across the board in patient safety.
“We salute hospitals for this milestone and encourage them to accelerate their hard work saving patient lives,” Binder said in a prepared statement. “For a long time, the health care community tried to improve safety, but progress stalled. The big difference over this decade is that for the first time, we publicly reported each hospital’s record on patient safety, and that galvanized the kind of change we all hoped for. It’s not enough change, but we are on the right track.”
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https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2022/11/25-michigan-hospitals-earned-lower-safety-grades-in-2022-how-did-yours-score.html
