Just 12% of hospitals in New York received high grades for how well they prevented infections, injuries and medical errors, a new report shows.
Seventeen hospitals statewide earned an A for patient safety, most of which were located in the New York City region, according to a report released today by the Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that measures quality of care at U.S. hospitals.
New York’s percentage of top-rated hospitals ranked it among states with the worst patient safety grades, with New York ranking 39th in the country. The slot is a slight improvement from the 42nd place it achieved in the fall.
Despite improvements, New York’s meager 12% of hospitals with top patient safety grades is “concerning,” said Alex Campione, a project analyst at Leapfrog who assesses hospitals’ patient safety outcomes. She said that New York’s percentage of highly rated hospitals was lower than the nationwide metric of 30%, indicating that patients statewide had sparse access to high quality and safe medical care.
“When patients don't have access to A hospitals, the chances are that medical errors are more common in the hospitals they're going to,” Campione said.
Most of the New York state hospitals that scored an A for patient safety were owned by major health systems. Seven hospitals under the Northwell Health umbrella received the top grade, including Mather Hospital, Plainview Hospital, South Shore University Hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center, Northern Westchester Hospital, Glen Cove Hospital and Huntington Hospital.
NYU Lagone’s three hospitals, including its main campus in Midtown and locations in Brooklyn and Long Island, all received top patient safety grades. Catholic Health’s Kenmore Mercy Hospital, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center and St. Charles Hospital received As. And so did White Plains Hospital, which is a part of Montefiore Health System.
Leapfrog evaluated 143 hospitals in New York on nearly two dozen patient safety metrics, including data that’s collected by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The organization measures preventive and procedural metrics, such as hand hygiene and staffing levels, as well as health outcomes including falls, hospital-acquired infections and air embolisms.
The grades are designed to help patients find safe and high-quality care. Roughly 200,000 people each year die from hospital-acquired infections, medical errors and injuries – deaths that could have been prevented.
Less than a third of hospitals in the New York City region, which includes New Jersey and Connecticut, earned an A in the latest Leapfrog ranking, indicating better access to high quality care in the city compared to other parts of the state, Campione said. But New York City still ranked 48th of 93 other metropolitan areas nationwide.
New York state had three hospitals that received an F: Arnot Ogden Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Erie County Medical Center. Nearly one in five hospitals statewide received a D, including New York City’s Montefiore Moses and Einstein campuses, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Nassau University Medical Center, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, St. Barnabas Hospital and New York City Health + Hospitals/Woodhull.
More than half of hospitals received a C, according to Leapfrog’s data.
Campione said that some patient safety metrics have started to improve nationwide in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic. Hospital-acquired infections including MRSA, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central line-associated blood infections have all decreased at hospitals, she noted.
But patient satisfaction still remains below pre-pandemic levels, Campione said, adding that she’d like to see that metric improve.
“Just because a hospital is a C or a D, doesn’t mean they can’t become an A,” Campione said, adding that she hopes hospital leaders see the patient safety rankings as a motivating factor.
The Leapfrog Group, founded in 2000, publishes bi-annual reports analyzing hospitals’ patient safety grades.
May 1, 2024: A previous version of this article misstated that White Plains Hospital, which is a part of Montefiore Health System, was a part of Northwell Health. The article has been corrected.
Crains