How Do Florida Hospitals Score On The Spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades?

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg is the only Tampa Bay Areahospital to earn a "D" on hospital safety grades in the latest rosterof hospital grades

On May 15, 2019, the Leapfrog Group issued Hospital SafetyGrades to hospitals across the U.S. You can search the Leapfrog database herefor any hospital that was rated: https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/

The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit organization thatdescribes itself as "committed to driving quality, safety, andtransparency in the U.S. health system." Since 2012, Leapfrog has releasedSafety Grades twice per year for over 2,600 hospitals across the U.S. Thegrades are based on national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS), the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, and other datasources. Leapfrog then takes those performance measures and computes a letter gradefor a hospital's overall performance which is supposed to measure how well thehospital keeps "patients safe from preventable harm and medicalerrors."

The Leapfrog Group has rated many hospitals in the Tampa BayArea. Some notable hospitals in the area scored below average or well belowaverage on important patient safety indicators, including the following areashighlighting Northside Hospital (St. Petersburg, FL); Bayfront Health St.Petersburg (St. Petersburg, PL); and Tampa General Hospital.

• Northside Hospital in St.Petersburg, Florida: Leapfrog Grade C.

• Surgical Site Infections afterColon Surgery: According to Leapfrog, this hospital had the "worsthospital score" for surgical site infections after colon surgery. Anaverage rate of surgical site infection after colon surgery was reported by Leapfrogto be 0.86. NorthsideHospital's score was 3.067, more than four (4) times the average rate,according to Leapfrog data. The Leapfrog Grade for 2019 for this hospital alsofound that Northside Hospital had a higher than average hospital score for bothblood infections and Clostridium Difficile infections.

• Death from TreatableComplications Rate: Northside Hospital also a higher than average "deathfrom treatable complications rate," in that 181.96 patients died per every1,000 surgical patients who developed a serious treatable complication aftersurgery. The average hospital's score, according to Leapfrog, was 161.64.

• Specially Trained Doctors Carefor ICU Patients: Northside Hospital's score was 5. The best hospital's scorewas 100, with the average hospital's score of 52.66. The scoring is based on ascale of 1-100 with the hospital able to earn up to 100 points for staffingtheir ICUs with intensivists.

• Comparison of Fall 2018 Grade toFall 2019 Grade: In Fall 2018, Leapfrog grade B. Northside Hospital's grade hasfallen to a C for this spring of 2019.

Northside Hospital's full scores can be viewed at: https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/h/northside-hospital-saint-petersburg-fl?findBy=city&city=st.+petersburg&stateprov=FL&rPos=500&rSort=distance

• Bayfront Health St. Petersburg:Leapfrog Grade D.

• Death from Serious TreatableComplications: Bayfront also a higher than average "death from treatablecomplications rate," in that 169.53 patients died per every 1,000 surgicalpatients who developed a serious treatable complication after surgery. Theaverage hospital's score, according to Leapfrog, was 161.64.

• Dangerous Blood Clot: Bayfronthad the "worst hospital score" of 7.32 times patients experienceddangerous blood clots per *1,000 people who had surgery. The average hospital'sscore was 3.84

• Dangerous Bed Sores: Bayfrontscored a 0.81, which is defined as the number of times patients experienceddangerous bedsores for every 1,000 patients discharged. The average hospital'sscore was 0.38.

• Specially Trained Doctors Carefor ICU Patients: Bayfront's score was 5. The best aspital's score was 100,with the average hospital's score of 52.66. The scoring is based on a scale of1-100 with the hospital able to earn up to 100 points for staffing their ICUswith intensivists.

• Comparison of Fall 2018 Grade toSpring 2019 Grade: Fall 2018: C.

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg's full scores can be viewed at: https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/h/bayfront-health-st-petersburg?findBy=city&city=st.+petersburg&state_prov=FL&rPos=0&rSort=distance

• Tampa General Hospital: LeapfrogGrade C.

• Dangerous Object Left inPatient's Body: Tampa General Hospital's score was 0.056 per every 1,000patients discharged. The average hospital's score was 0.021.

• Death from Serious TreatableComplications: Tampa General Hospital's score was the "worst hospital'sscore" per Leapfrog, at 204-76. The average hospital's score was 161.54surgical patient deaths per every 1,000 people who had a serious treatablecomplication after surgery.

• Track and Reduce Risks toPatients: Tampa General Hospital's score was 36.36 on a point system of 1 to100. The average hospital's score was 97.24. The worst hospital's score was27.27.

• Specially Trained Doctors Carefor ICU Patients: Tampa General Hospital's score was 5. The best hospital'sscore was 100, with the average hospital's score of 52.66. The scoring is basedon a scale of 1-100 with the hospital able to earn up to 100 points forstaffing their ICUs with intensivists.

• Comparison of Fall 2018 Grade toSpring 2019 Grade: Fall 2018: C. TampaGeneral Hospital's full scores can be viewed at: https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/h/tampa-general-hospital?findBy=zip&zip_code=33606&radius=50&rPos=300&rSort=distance

The remaining "C" and "D" gradehospitals in the state of Florida as rated by the Leapfrog Group for Spring2019 are the following, with Tampa Bay Area hospitals in bold: "C" Grade Hospitals Aventura Hospital and MedicalCenter, Aventura
• Baptist Health South Florida Baptist Hospital of Miami, Miami

• Bartow Regional Medical Center,Bartow

• Bay Medical Center Sacred HeartHealth System, Panama City

• Bayfront Health Port Charlotte,Port Charlotte

• Bayfront Health Punta Gorda,Punta Gorda

• Bethesda Hospital East, BoyntonBeach

• Bethesda Hospital West, BoyntonBeach

• Blake Medical Center, Bradenton

• Boca Raton Regional Hospital,Boca Raton

• Broward Health Coral Springs,Coral Springs

• Broward Health Imperial Point,Fort Lauderdale

• Broward Health Medical Center,Fort Lauderdale

• Cape Canaveral Hospital, CocoaBeach.

• Capital Regional Medical Center,Tallahassee

• Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston

• Cleveland Clinic Martin SouthHospital, Stuart

• Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine

• Florida Medical Center,Lauderdale Lakes

• Gulf Breeze Hospital, GulfBreeze

• Halifax Health Medical Center,Daytona Beach

• Halifax Health Medical Center -Fort Orange, Port Orange

• Highlands Regional MedicalCenter, Sebring

• Holmes Regional Medical Center,Melbourne

• Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami

• Jackson North Medical Center,North Miami Beach

• Jackson South Medical Center,Miami

• Kendall Regional Medical Center,Miami

• Larkin Community Hospital, SouthMaimi

• Larkin Community Hospital - PalmSprings Campus, Hialeah

• Leesburg Regional MedicalCenter, Leesburg

• Manatee Memorial Hospital,Bradenton

• Morton Plant North Bay Hospital,New Port Richey

• NCH North Naples Hospital,Naples

• North Okaloosa Medical Center,Crestview

• North Shore Medical Center,Miami

• Ocala Regional Medical Center,Ocala

• Palm Bay Hospital, Palm Bay

• Plantation General Hospital,Plantation

• Rockledge Regional MedicalCenter, Rockledge

• South Florida Baptist Hospital,Plant City

• St. Anthony's Hospital, St.Petersburg

• St. Joseph's Hospital, Tampa

• St. Joseph's Hospital - South,Riverview

• St. Joseph's Hospital North,Lutz

• St. Mary's Medical Center, WestPalm Beach

• St. Petersburg General Hospital,St. Petersburg

• St. Vincent's Medical CenterSouthside, Jacksonville

• UF Health Shands Hospital, TheVillages

• UF Health Shands Hospital,Gainesville

• University Hospital and MedicalCenter, Tamarac

• Venice Regional Bayfront Health,Venice

• Westchester General Hospital,Miami

• Westside Regional MedicalCenter, Plantation

• - Winter Haven Hospital, WinterHaven "D" GradeHospitals

• AdventHealth Ocala, Ocala

• JFK Medical Center, Atlantis

• Lake Wales Medical Center, LakeWales

• Melbourne Regional MedicalCenter, Melbourne

• Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare,Tallahassee

• UF Health Jacksonville,Jacksonville

If you or a loved one has been injured by hospitalmalpractice, please give The Patient's Law Firm, PA, a call at 727-281-4357.

Attorneys Eric P. Czelusta, BCS, Esq., and Christa M.Carpenter, RN, Esg, will be happy to evaluate your case free of charge.

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