News Feature | May 5, 2014

Health IT Contributes To Rising Hospital Safety Scores

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Rising Hospital Safety Scores In Health IT

Hospital safety scores have increased by 6.3 percent since 2012, in part due to newly implemented health IT.

According to a Leapfrog Group report, hospital safety scores have increased 6.3 percent since 2012 and, in many cases, this increase is attributed to recent health IT implementations. “Hospital improvement programs have harnessed the power of health IT to tackle the pressing issue, using EHRs and computerized provider order entry (CPOE) to clarify documentation and drug administration, or hand hygiene compliance programs to monitor the use of antimicrobial soaps and gels that can prevent the spread of superbugs like MRSA,” reports EHR Intelligence.

But don’t rejoice just yet because, despite the increase, only 26 percent of hospitals scored an “A” rating overall. Although 48 of 50 states showed improvement, the majority still scored “B” or lower. One hundred and fifty of the 2,522 hospitals that received scores only earned a “D” and 22 earned an “F” grade.

Other key findings:

  • Five states had zero hospitals receiving an “A” in the Spring 2014 Score, including Alaska, District of Columbia, Idaho, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
  • Maine once again claimed the number-one spot for the state with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals, at 74 percent.
  • Several states saw significant improvement in the percentage of hospitals receiving an “A” in 2014. That includes New Mexico (0-percent in Fall 2013 to 14 percent in Spring 2014) and New Hampshire (8 percent in Fall 2013 to 31 percent in Spring 2014).
  • 53 hospitals (or 2.2 percent) changed by two or more grades, showing either a significant improvement or significant decline.

“The data tells us that more hospitals are working harder to create a safe environment, and that’s good news for patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “Since a ream of disappointing studies suggested that through 2010 progress in patient safety was virtually zero, the fact that we are seeing results now is notable.  It’s a reflection of the ability to galvanize change in healthcare transparency via the Hospital Safety Score and other efforts.”

“While these hospitals often receive accolades for their surgical teams, state-of-the-art equipment and sought after physicians, they don’t make the grade when it comes to patient safety,” added Binder. “An institution could have the best surgeons in the world, but if the aftercare is lacking and the patient develops an infection as a result, then the hospital has failed to protect its patient.”