Hospital Safety

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Consumer Reports Rates Hospital Safety

Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media , July 5, 2012

The spotlight on hospital-caused patient harm has become a bit brighter with the launch ofConsumer Reports' hospital safety ratings, which uses several different measures than the Leapfrog Group's recent and controversial hospital letter grades, and reaches opposite conclusions about many facilities.

The CU rating system, featured in the magazine's August issue, rates hospitals in six categories:

1. Infections
2. 30-day readmissions
3. Overuse of scanning
4. Communication about new medications and discharge process (as measured by HCAHPS – the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey)
5. Patient complications
6. 30-day post-discharge mortality

In addition to informing consumers, the CU rating system is aimed at hospital CEOs and boards, "in terms of their accountability," and getting them to understand they can do better, John Santa, MD, director of Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, explained in an interview with HealthLeaders./.../