Consumer Reports Releases Hospital Safety Ratings

Jaimie Oh -

For the first time, Consumer Reports has rated U.S. hospitals for safety, combining six key measures into one composite rating.

The six categories that comprise the safety score are infections, readmissions, overuse of scanning, communication about new medications and discharge, complications and mortality. Consumer Reports relied on government and independent resources, such as the Leap Frog Group. The ratings only include 1,159 hospitals, 18 percent of total hospitals in the U.S.

 

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Key trends include the following:

•    More than half (51 percent) of the hospitals rated by Consumer Reports received a score below 50 on a scale of 1-100, suggesting room for improvement.
•    Of the hospitals rated by Consumer Reports, 202 hospitals reported infections at rates higher than the national benchmark, and only 148 reported zero infections.
•    No hospital earned Consumer Report's highest score for readmissions, while 166 hospitals received the lowest score.  
•    No hospital earned the top score for communication about new medications and discharge plans, while nearly 500 hospitals earned the lowest score.

To view detailed information about these safety ratings, click here.

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