Leapfrog Reports Improvements Nationally in Healthcare-Associated Infections, Hand Hygiene and Medication Safety
Atlanta, GA, November 15, 2024 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, today released the fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Driven in Georgia by Georgia Watch, these grades provide a critical measure of patient safety for hospitals nationwide. Georgia ranked 35th in the country for the percentage of “A” hospitals, 12 places lower than the Spring 2024 ranking of 23rd in the nation.
The fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade shows hospitals nationwide are making strides in patient safety across several performance measures including improvements in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene and medication safety.
“Nobody wants patients to suffer or even die from a preventable medical error, but sadly it happens all too often in hospitals across the country,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of Georgia Watch. “We are concerned that fewer Georgia hospitals earned an “A” in the latest state rankings and that our state moved significantly lower on the national ranking. We hope hospital leaders in Georgia will renew their commitment to improve patient safety.”
In Georgia, 79 hospitals were graded, and 17 earned an “A,” 29 earned a “B,” 28 earned a “C,” and 5 earned a “D.”
“There is still much work to be done to continue making gains in patient safety,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the hospitals in Georgia that are clearly focusing on prioritizing patients and their safety—an effort that takes absolute dedication from hospital staff at all levels.”
The Leapfrog Group has a more than 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the U.S. based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring.
Detailed hospital performance information, including patient experience and safety measures, as well as grades for individual hospitals searchable by states and localities is available at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
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About Georgia Watch
Founded in 2002, Georgia Watch is a statewide consumer advocacy organization working to educate and protect Georgia consumers on matters that impact their quality of life, particularly the effects of predatory business practices, the high cost of utilities and healthcare, and restricted access to the civil justice system.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among its initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 and assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. It is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring. To look up your hospital’s Safety Grade, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. For more from Leapfrog, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.
