A national watchdog organization that grades hospital safety twice each year has given two Pima County hospitals an “A.”
Northwest Medical Center and Oro Valley Hospital, both owned by Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, scored the highest marks available with the Leapfrog Group. There were 11 Arizona hospitals, among 773 nationwide, that earned an A.
The reports, which offer patients a snapshot of hospital safety, focus on how well medical facilities avoid preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections using over 30 safety measures. The information is available online at www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
These latest findings also include the second in a three-part series exploring patients’ experiences during the pandemic. The first report examined outpatient surgical care, while this one looks at inpatient care.
Tucson Medical Center, St. Joseph and St. Mary’s hospitals, and Banner-University Medical Center South all received “B” grades for safety while Banner-University Medical Center Tucson received a “C.” The most common problems with hospitals here include patient falls or injuries, poor communication at the time of discharge, infections after surgery, and inadequate communication from doctors and nurses to patients.
Taja Vivens, communications manager for the Carondelet Health Network, said the organization would not comment on the findings for St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s hospitals. Tucson Medical Center officials also did not answer Arizona Daily Star questions.
“We’re really proud of the ‘A’ grades that Northwest Medical Center and Oro Valley Hospital received from the Leapfrog Group,” wrote Brian Sinotte, Market CEO for Northwest Healthcare, in an email to the Arizona Daily Star. “This is the third consecutive ratings period that our hospitals have received ‘A’ grades. Our team has worked hard, prioritizing safe, reliable patient care by creating a robust patient safety culture.”
Banner Health provided a prepared statement through spokeswoman Rebecca Ruiz Hudman: “At Banner, we hold ourselves to the highest standard and continuously strive to improve safety and the patient experience at all of our hospitals. Although we carefully consider popular hospital rating programs, they often paint an incomplete picture of the overall patient experience, overlooking important factors related to emergency care and the patient population that is served. This is particularly true during a global health crisis like COVID.”
Leapfrog findings
Nationwide, 33% of hospitals received an A, 24% earned a B, 36% a C, 7% a D, and less than 1% received an F.
The five states with the highest percentages of A hospitals are North Carolina, Virginia, Utah, Colorado and Michigan. There were no A hospitals in Wyoming, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or North Dakota. Arizona ranked 35th nationwide, with 20% of its hospitals receiving an A.
The Leapfrog findings are based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, found on its Care Compare website, as well as a voluntary Leapfrog survey.
Most data used to calculate the grades is from a pandemic time frame. For certain measures, nine months of mid-pandemic data were used, sometimes accompanied by one quarter of pre-pandemic data ending Dec. 31, 2019. For three measures — foreign object retained, air embolism, and falls and trauma — the latest data available is from a pre-pandemic time frame.
The 10 areas covered on CMS surveys include communication with nurses, communication with doctors, responsiveness of hospital staff, communication about medicines, discharge information, care transition, hospital cleanliness, quietness, overall rating and how willing patients are to recommend the facility.
Hospital officials have criticized Leapfrog reports because of lag time between when the data is collected and the score is given, and have also said the grades should not be the only way to judge a hospital’s safety.
Patients interested in learning more about a hospital can also check a federal report called Hospital Compare.
Pressure during the pandemic
Leapfrog found inpatient hospital care declined significantly during the pandemic, and patient’s experiences overall were worse in all areas except one: the quietness of the hospital.
Areas of care already in great need of improvement before the pandemic began — transitioning care once out of the hospital, communicating about medications and hospital staff responsiveness — became significantly worse during the pandemic.
The CMS survey showed:
Patients were less likely to give the most favorable ratings about staff responsiveness, with mid-pandemic at 63.4% compared to pre-pandemic, 67.1%;
Patients gave less favorable responses to the communication about medicines questions mid-pandemic, at 61%, compared to pre-pandemic, 64.1%;
Patients reported less favorable responses to hospital cleanliness mid-pandemic at 70.7% compared to pre-pandemic, 73.6%.
“The health care workforce has faced unprecedented levels of pressure during the pandemic,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, wrote in a media release, “and as a result, patients’ experience with their care appears to have suffered.”
