How Safe Are Rhode Island Hospitals?

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 to help increase awareness of hospital errors, injuries, accidents and infections. Since 2012, the Leapfrog Group has been assigning a Hospital Safety Grade — an A, B, C, D or F letter grade to more than 2,600 acute-care hospitals nationwide, twice a year.

What Is the Hospital Safety Grade?

The Safety Grade uses national performance measures  — from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey and Health Information Technology Supplement — to produce a single letter grade representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.

The Safety Grade includes 27 measures, all currently in use by national measurement and reporting programs. These include:

• Infections, such as MRSA, C. diff, infections in the blood during ICU stay or surgical site infections.
• Problems with surgery, such as objects left behind, death from treatable complications, collapsed lung
• Practices to prevent errors, such as handwashing, communication about medicines,  ordering medicines through a computer
• Safety problems, such as dangerous bed sores, patient falls, air or gas bubble in the blood
• Doctors, nurses and hospital staff, such as enough qualified nurses, specially trained doctors for ICU patients, responsiveness of hospital staff...

How Safe Is Your Local Hospital?

Go to www.hospitalsafetygrade.org to search by hospital or state to view specific hospital scores.

Did You Experience A Medical Error in Your Care?

If you have questions about the medical care you received as a patient in Rhode Island, our medical malpractice lawyers and in-house medical professionals can review your case for free. Please call us at (800) 866-2889.

Lubin & Meyer PC - Rhode Island's Leader in Medical Malpractice Law

Avoidable Medical Harms in Hospitals Gaining Attention

Rhode Island Public Radio reported this month on a U.S. Senate subcommittee panel where medical experts testified on the need for better metrics for reporting medical mistakes in hospitals. One of the biggest problems, according to those who testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, is that hospitals and health agencies are not accurately measuring these harms. 

One expert, Dr. Tejal Gandhi, president of the National Patient Safety Foundation, said that studies show that "medication errors, adverse drug events and injuries due to drugs occur in up to 25 percent of patients within 30 days of being prescribed a drug." Another study accounted for up to 400,000 patient deaths a year caused by medical mistakes in hospitals.

Read the full article on RIPR.com: Health Safety Experts Call For Public Reporting Of Medical Harms.

In a related news item on WPRI, FOX Providence, Channel 12, former Eyewitness News anchor, Pat Mastors is spearheading a national campaign calling for Congress to investigate problems related to unintended medical harm and to add accountability. See the video below.



Lubin & Meyer PC - Rhode Island's Leader in Medical Malpractice Law