SAN ANTONIO – The Leapfrog Group uses industry information on safety procedures and outcomes to determine its annual report card on hospitals across the country. The results for Texas and San Antonio are food for thought.
Of the 2,500 or so hospitals nationwide, 790 received an "A," 148 got a "D," and another 26 failed when it comes to safety, hospital errors and medical outcomes.
The grades come from compiled data drawn from Medicare services information that is reported to the federal government, as well as voluntary survey information submitted by the hospitals themselves.
"The hospital safety score is the result of policies and procedures the hospitals have in place to prevent errors and the rate at which some of these errors occur," said Erica Mobley, the communications director for Leapfrog.
The states of Maine and Massachusetts ranked the highest with more than 60 percent of their hospitals getting an "A" grade. Texas hits the middle of the pack at 23 and about 26 percent getting the highest grade. This is generally where Texas was last year, but there was a bit of improvement.
"What is encouraging is that there are no longer any 'D' and 'F' rated hospitals in Texas, so those really low performing hospitals here have improved and gotten their grade up to a 'C,'" said Mobley.
As for San Antonio itself, Northeast Baptist, Saint Luke's Baptist and Mission Trail Baptist all received an "A" score. Methodist Texas, Nix Health Care, Methodist, Methodist Children's, University, Methodist Stone Oak, Southwest General and Guadalupe Hospitals all received a "C".
For more on the Hospital Safety Score, visit hospitalsafetyscore.org.