Record number of U.S. hospitals, surgery centers now publicly rated for patient safety

A record high of more than 6,000 hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) shared patient safety data in the lastest round of ratings published by The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit advocacy group for patient safety and transparency.

The total with more than 2,400 hospitals and more than 3,900 ASCs represents more than 80% of all inpatient beds in the United States. The organization announced it was the highest participation level in its 26-year history.

“It took more than two decades to get here, but this record participation confirms that transparency is now the norm in American health care, and declining to be transparent is the exception,” Leapfrog Group CEO Leah Binder said in a news release. “Of all the quality and safety reporting facilities do, Leapfrog is the only program for the express purpose of public transparency. We thank these hospitals and ASCs for their leadership and accountability.”

Hospital ratings come from facilities' voluntary participation in the 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Survey. ASC ratings draw on three sources:

• Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Accreditation information facilities voluntarily upload and verify
• Voluntary reporting through the 2026 Leapfrog ASC Survey 2.0.

Leapfrog credited its Regional Leaders, business coalitions that encourage local hospitals and ASCs to submit survey data, with helping drive the record turnout.

“As Regional Leaders, we bring together employers, purchasers and community voices to work directly with hospitals and surgery centers and keep pushing for the transparency patients deserve,” said Linda Schwimmer, J.D., president and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute and chair of The Leapfrog Group’s board of directors. “Transparency on quality creates greater awareness, focus and accountability, all of which lead to better care for patients. That is why this growth in public reporting matters.”

The results published July 27 also mark the launch of Leapfrog's ASC Public Reporting Program, which reports safety and quality data for ASCs nationwide. ASC scores include measures on patient rights and ethics, health equity, hand hygiene, and informed consent. Hundreds of ASCs took part by uploading accreditation information, completing the ASC Survey 2.0, or both.

“Ambulatory surgery centers account for the majority of surgeries in the United States, yet patients have historically had limited information about their safety and quality,” Leapfrog Group Senior Vice President Missy Danforth said in the news release.

“We applaud the ambulatory surgery centers that are embracing transparency by voluntarily sharing data with Leapfrog,” Danforth said. “By publicly reporting more data on more ASCs than ever before, Leapfrog is helping patients compare their options and encouraging facilities to demonstrate their commitment to safe, high-quality care.”

Leapfrog updates results each month, and facilities can still submit data through Nov. 30, the late-submission deadline for both programs. Leapfrog also introduced a Full Transparency Badge this year to recognize facilities that complete every section of their survey.

A broader pattern of improvement

Monday's participation record follows Leapfrog's spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grade, released in May, which found broad national improvement in hospital patient safety.

The Hospital Safety Grade is a separate, biannual "A" through "F" rating measuring hospitals' ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. It is Leapfrog's only rating focused solely on hospital safety. The spring report found significant improvement in 17 measures of errors and infections, including infections, medication-safety systems and patient experience.

“The good news is that hospitals across the country are making meaningful strides in patient safety and helping save countless lives,” Binder said at the time. “But not all hospitals are the same. That’s why it’s so important for people to consult Safety Grades and do their research when choosing a hospital.”

Infections and medication errors decline

Average rates for four health care-associated infections have fallen sharply since peaking in fall 2022:

• Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) dropped 50%
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) fell 45%
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) declined 42%
• Clostridioides difficile dropped 30%

Medication safety improved too. Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems, which flag prescribing errors like a wrong dose or dangerous drug interaction, met Leapfrog's standard in 90% of hospitals in 2025, up from 66% in 2018. Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) systems, which scan barcodes to confirm the right patient gets the right medication, met the standard in 93% of hospitals, up from 47%.

Patient experience scores, drawn from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, hit an all-time low in fall 2023 but have since risen by an average of one point across five safety-related measures, including communication with nurses and doctors and discharge information.

State rankings shift

The states with the highest share of "A"-graded hospitals this spring: Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina, Utah, Montana, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and California. Montana cracked the top five for the first time; Florida climbed to seventh from 15th; and Maryland reached eighth, its first top-10 finish after years in the bottom 20. North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming had no hospitals earn an "A."

Hundreds of hospitals left ungraded

Leapfrog did not assign Safety Grades to 450 hospitals that hadn't participated in its 2024 or 2025 Hospital Survey, reporting them as "Grade Not Assigned" following a federal court ruling in South Florida that applied to five hospitals. Leapfrog said it doesn't make programmatic changes for individual facilities because the Safety Grade is a national program. The organization is appealing the ruling and reviewing its methodology with its National Expert Panel, and said any changes would go through public comment.