Wisconsin Hospital Safety Grades In 2022: The Best And Worst

Milwaukee WI

10 May, 2022

12:20 PM

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WISCONSIN — A handful of Wisconsin hospitals had high marks in a safety rating, despite health care services taking significant hits from the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years. Not all hospitals in the Badger State were winners and a few saw their grades sink in the Spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades report released Tuesday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog group. The latest ratings reflect care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some hospitals saw their grades rise or fall since 2020. Patient safety backslid after years of progress, according to Leapfrog's study. The pandemic has had a negative effect on "health care delivery at every level and setting, from staffing shortages to increased infections to the very care patients receive," according to the Patient Experience During the Pandemic: Adult Inpatient Care report, also released Tuesday by The Leapfrog Group. "The health care workforce has faced unprecedented levels of pressure during the pandemic, and as a result, patients' experience with their care appears to have suffered," Leapfrog Group president and CEO Leah Binder said in a news release. "We commend the workforce for their heroic efforts these past few years and now strongly urge hospital leadership to recommit to improved care — from communication to responsiveness — and get back on track with patient safety outcomes." In Wisconsin, 11 hospitals received an "A" grade, 8 hospitals received a "B" grade, 41 hospitals received a "C" grade and 5 hospitals received a "D" grade. On the bright side, no hospitals received an "F" grade. Here are the rankings, according to Leapfrog: A Bellin Memorial Hospital, Green BayFroedtert Menomonee Falls HospitalHSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, Eau ClaireHSHS St. Mary's Hospital of Green BayHSHS St. Vincent Hospital of Green BayMarshfield Medical Center - Eau ClaireMayo Clinic Health System - Eau ClaireMayo Clinic Health System - La CrosseMile Bluff Medical Center, MaustonMonroe Clinic HospitalWatertown Regional Medical Center B Aurora Lakeland Medical Center, ElkhornBeloit Memorial HospitalFroedtert Kenosha HospitalFroedtert Pleasant Prairie HospitalMarshfield Medical Center Beaver DamMercyhealth Hospital and Trauma Center - JanesvilleThedaCare Regional Medical Center - AppletonUnityPoint Health - Meriter C Ascension Columbia St Mary's Hospital MilwaukeeAscension Columbia St Mary's Hospital OzaukeeAscension NE Wisconsin - Mercy Campus, OshkoshAscension NE Wisconsin - St Elizabeth Campus, AppletonAscension SE Wisconsin Hospital - Elmbrook Campus, BrookfieldAscension SE Wisconsin Hospital - Franklin CampusAscension SE Wisconsin Hospital - St. Joseph Campus, MilwaukeeAspirus Divine Savior Hospital, PortageAspirus Rhinelander HospitalAspirus Riverview Hospital, Wisconsin RapidsAspirus Stevens Point HospitalAspirus Wausau HospitalAurora BayCare Medical Center, Green BayAurora Medical Center - Manitowoc County, Two RiversAurora Medical Center Bay Area, MarinetteAurora Medical Center BurlingtonAurora Medical Center GraftonAurora Medical Center of KenoshaAurora Medical Center of OshkoshAurora Medical Center of Washington County, HartfordAurora Medical Center SummitAurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical CenterAurora West Allis Medical CenterFort Memorial Hospital, Fort AtkinsonFroedtert Hospital, MilwaukeeFroedtert West Bend HospitalGundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La CrosseHoly Family Memorial Medical Center, ManitowocHoward Young Medical Center, WoodruffHSHS St. Nicholas Hospital, SheboyganMarshfield Medical Center - MarshfieldMarshfield Medical Center - WestonMarshfield Medical Center - Rice LakeProHealth Oconomowoc Memorial HospitalProHealth Waukesha Memorial HospitalSSM Health St. Clare Hospital - BarabooSSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - JanesvilleSSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - MadisonSt. Agnes Hospital, Fond du LacThedaCare Regional Medical Center - NeenahUniversity of Wisconsin Health University Hospital, Madison D Ascension All Saints Hospital - Spring Street Campus, RacineAscension St. Francis Hospital, MilwaukeeAurora Sinai Medical Center, MilwaukeeAurora St. Luke's Medical Center of Aurora Health Care Metro, Inc, MilwaukeeAurora St. Luke's South Shore of Aurora Health Care Metro, Cudahy Accurately measuring data can be challenging and may not reflect the quality of care or factors that contribute to patient outcomes, Advocate Aurora Health said in a statement. "Our focus remains on providing the safest care and achieving the best outcomes for our patients," the non-profit added. Study With Focus On Preventable Errors, Accidents, Injuries And Infections The letter grades assigned to nearly 3,000 U.S general hospitals were based on more than 30 measures of patient safety. Leapfrog says its hospital rating system is the only one in the country focusing solely on a hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Included in the 30 are five that research has shown to directly affect patient outcomes, but can be improved with greater communication between caregivers and patients — the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, infections from colon surgery, MRSA (Staphylococcus) blood laboratory-identified events, and facility-wide inpatient diarrhea events. When there's communication about medications, for example, that can lead to fewer hospitalizations for conditions such as sepsis and blood clots, fewer complications, and decreases in the incidence of respiratory failure, Leapfrog said. Among the findings: Thirty-three percent of hospitals received an "A," 24 percent received a "B," 36 percent received a "C," 7 percent received a "D." and fewer than 1 percent received an "F". The 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, North Dakota or the District of Columbia. To determine each hospital's grade, a panel of medical experts selected 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety such as postoperative sepsis, blood leakage and kidney injury. They then determined the weight of each measure based on evidence, opportunity for improvement and patient impact. Data on each measure was collected through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Information from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, available to all hospitals to complete, also affects grades. Currently, Leapfrog does not assign grades to military or Veterans Administration hospitals, critical access hospitals, specialty hospitals, children's hospitals or outpatient surgery centers. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade methodology has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety. The full methodology for the 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is available online.