Slideshow: 3 Hospital Rating Tools Compared

The Hospital Safety Scores were issued by The Leapfrog Group to demonstrate which hospitals are the least, and which are the most, likely to cause avoidable patient harm. Scores are represented by an A,B,C,D, or F letter grade.

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Leapfrog determines its scores through a combination of responses to its own surveys as well as publicly available data from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Data involved in determining a Leapfrog Group safety rating include:

• CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry) – Leapfrog data
• IPS (ICU Physician Staffing) – Leapfrog data
• 8 Safe Practices – Leapfrog data
• 5 SCIP (Surgical Care Improvement Project) measures – CMS data
• 5 HACs (Hospital Acquired Conditions) – CMS data
• 6 PSIs (Patient Safety Indicators) – CMS data

In the August issue of their magazine, Consumer Reports rates 1,159 hospitals in 44 states. CR hospital safety scores, which are meant to represent how likely a patient might be to suffer avoidable harm caused by a hospital, differ from Leapfrog's because they include CT imaging, Medicare's 30-day readmission rates, and results from the HCAHPS survey as safety measures. More than half of the hospitals CR rated scored under 50 points. 158 hospitals scored at least 60. According to CR, hospitals did not score well because of two major issues: readmissions and communication. 

Sources:
>>U.S. News & World Report: Best Hospitals 2012-13: the Honor Roll
>>Leapfrog Group: Hospital Safety Scores
>>Consumer Reports: Hospital Safety Ratings

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