Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
America's Most Dangerous Hospitals Are Becoming Even Riskier For Patients, New Research Reveals
USA Today: Hospital Ratings: D And F Hospitals Have Twice Death Risk From Error
Patients' risk of dying from medical mistakes, deadly infections and safety lapses have gotten much worse at the lowest ranked U.S. hospitals, underscoring Americans' need to check ratings of their local hospitals, new research released Wednesday shows. The new analysis is based on data gleaned from about 2,600 U.S. hospitals since 2016. What the findings reveal is that some of the nation's most dangerous medical centers have become even riskier for patients. (O'Donnell, 5/15)
Modern Healthcare: 161,000 Avoidable Deaths Occur In Hospitals Annually
An estimated 161,250 preventable deaths occur each year in U.S. hospitals, a decline from three years ago, according to a new analysis from the Leapfrog Group. The study, published Wednesday and conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality through a contract with the Leapfrog Group, found that poor hospital performance on 16 patient safety measures used by Leapfrog Group to assign hospital grades caused more than 161,000 deaths annually. The findings actually represent a decline in deaths from 2016 when Johns Hopkins conducted a similar analysis for Leapfrog Group in which 206,000 preventable deaths occurred each year. (Castellucci, 5/15)
Chicago Tribune: Which Illinois Hospitals Are The Best? The Worst? Depends On Whom You Ask.
Hospital grades, rankings and ratings are supposed to make it easier to choose where to get care. But when more than half a dozen organizations regularly chime in, it can get a bit confusing for patients. The nonprofit Leapfrog Group just released its latest patient safety grades Wednesday, dinging five Illinois hospitals with Ds and awarding 42 with As – grades that Leapfrog says can mean the difference between life and death for some patients. (Schencker, 5/15)
In other news on hospitals —
Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Rural Hospitals Are Dying Off. Who's Next?
The closure of a local hospital is a very real possibility for the people of Greeneville, a hardscrabble Appalachian community of 15,000 about an hour east of Knoxville. The facilities here, Laughlin Memorial Hospital and Takoma Regional Hospital, have been half-empty and losing money at least four years in a row. New owners recently fused Laughlin and Takoma in a desperate effort to become profitable, and officials admit that both hospitals were likely to close in a few years without intervention. Many Greeneville residents, accustomed to a town with two hospitals, don’t realize how close they came to having zero. (Kelman, 5/15)
Modern Healthcare: Lawmakers Question Who Should Pay For Hospital Disaster Preparedness
Hospitals' ability to withstand natural disasters while keeping their patients safe came under scrutiny by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday. But lawmakers mostly avoided talking about new hospital regulations as they convened the panel's first hearing on climate change in 12 years. When the issue came up, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) immediately signaled concern about where the money should come from, as she doesn't want the government to add costs to rural hospitals. She asked whether the federal government should start funding hospital preparations. (Luthi, 5/15)
