Hospitals improving patient safety grades, watchdog organization says

Hospitals across the nation are upgrading their patient safety, which saves lives, according to an independent watchdog organization.

The Leapfrog Group published its fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade, a ranking of almost 3,000 hospitals for preventing medical errors, accidents and infections. Evaluating up to 30 performance measures, the Leapfrog Group assigns letter grades ranging from “A” for top performers to “F” for those that need work.

Increasing patient safety measures are good news, said Leapfrog Group President and CEO Leah Binder.

"Preventable deaths and harm in hospitals have been a major policy concern for decades. So, it is good news that Leapfrog’s latest Safety Grades reveal that hospitals across the country are making notable gains in patient safety, saving countless lives," she said in a news releaes. “Next, we need hospitals to accelerate this progress – because no one should have to die from a preventable error in a hospital.”

This slideshow presents the states that had the most A-grade hospitals. Slides include the fall 2024 grade, the percentage of A hospitals, and the marks and percentages for spring. All data was compiled by the Leapfrog Group.

Spoiler alert: Just three states had at least 50% of hospitals getting A grades for fall 2024. Three states moved up into the top 10 in fall, that were not in the top 10 in spring. And not every state in the top 10 maintained the percentage from the spring – some went backwards. Which ones? Click through to find out.