Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
North Carolina, Virginia Hospitals Score Best In Latest Safety Rankings
Fierce Healthcare: Watchdog: Hospital Patient Experience Declines During Pandemic
The latest batch of hospital patient safety ratings from the Leapfrog Group shows a general decline among “several” hospital safety measures concurrent with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the healthcare safety watchdog. Released Tuesday, the scores are accompanied by a report from Leapfrog that highlights a “significant” decline in the experiences of adult inpatients at acute care hospitals during the pandemic, with many areas “already in dire need” prior to the pandemic deteriorating even further. (Muoio, 5/10)
Yahoo Finance: New Hospital Safety Grades From The Leapfrog Group Highlight Pandemic-Era Declines In Patient Experience
The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers focused on health care safety, today released the spring 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which assigns a letter grade to nearly 3,000 U.S. general hospitals based on over 30 measures of patient safety. The Safety Grade is the only rating solely focused on a hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. The latest grades provide a look at the impact of COVID-19 on patient safety, with several measures included in the grade showing a significant decline. (5/10)
Raleigh News & Observer: NC Claims Top Spot For Nation's Safest Hospitals. See How Triangle Hospitals Rank
North Carolina has the highest percentage of top-rated hospitals in the U.S. based on safety factors, according to a new watchdog report. The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers focused on health care safety, released its spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades Tuesday. The new rankings put North Carolina in the top spot for hospital safety, up from the state’s previous No. 2 ranking based on Leapfrog’s fall safety grades. (Dean, 5/10)
Chicago Tribune: Hospital Safety Grades: One Illinois Hospital Earns An F, Northwestern Earns A C
Illinois ranks 27th in the country for its percentage of hospitals with high marks for safety, with a Waukegan hospital earning an F and one of Chicago’s most prestigious institutions, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, notching a C, according to new ratings. Overall, about 29% of Illinois hospitals earned A grades, about the same percentage as the last time grades were released in the fall by the nonprofit Leapfrog Group, which issues the grades twice a year. That’s down, however, from a year ago, when Leapfrog ranked Illinois 17th in the country for hospital safety, with 35% of Illinois hospitals achieving A grades. (Schencker, 5/10)
NorthJersey.com: NJ Hospitals: Holy Name, St. Joseph's Get Bad Ratings Amid COVID
Four North Jersey hospitals, including Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and St. Joseph's two hospitals in Paterson and Wayne, received low marks of "D" in the semiannual safety grades issued by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog of hospital quality. The period rated included the pandemic. The four were among nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide — including 69 in New Jersey — to receive letter grades of A through F based on over 30 measures of patient safety. The spring 2022 grades registered the impact of COVID‐19 on patient safety, with several measures showing a significant decline. (Washburn, 5/10)
How safe is your hospital? Check the rankings here:
In other health industry news —
Los Angeles Times: Cedars-Sinai Workers Begin Five-Day Strike Over Wages
Nearly a thousand workers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center started a weeklong strike on Monday for the first time in decades, demanding higher pay and better working conditions amid negotiations for a union contract. The previous three-year contract between Cedars-Sinai, a nonprofit healthcare organization, and the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West expired March 31 and the next round of negotiation is set to take place Tuesday. (Jha, 5/9)
Modern Healthcare: Nurse Staffing Is Digital Health’s Newest Frontier
Amid a shortage of nurses, health systems are increasingly turning to digital health to fill gaps in scheduling. “Nurse staffing is more of a challenge now than it’s ever been,” said Eric Humphrey, chief human resources officer at Froedtert Health in Wisconsin. “It’s always been a challenge but with the pandemic we saw a lot of nurses choose to retire, others who decided to stay at home with their kids or work part time and some who just left healthcare altogether.” An analysis in Health Affairs from April found that the number of nurses decreased in 2021 for the first time in 18 years. And the problem could get worse. A McKinsey survey of nurses in February found that 32% are likely to leave the profession within the year. (Perna, 5/9)
KHN: Travel Nurses See Swift Change Of Fortunes As Covid Money Runs Dry
Tiffanie Jones was a few tanks of gas into her drive from Tampa, Florida, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, when she found out her travel nurse contract had been canceled. Jones, who has been a nurse for 17 years, caught up with a Facebook group for travel nurses and saw she wasn’t alone. Nurses had reported abruptly losing jobs and seeing their rates slashed as much as 50% midcontract. “One lady packed up her whole family and was canceled during orientation,” she said. (Norman, 5/10)
AP: $25M Donation To Help Establish College Of Dentistry
An anonymous donor gave a $25 million gift to the University of Pikeville, school officials said. University of Pikeville President Burton Webb said the gift will help establish a College of Dentistry and expand access to health services in Appalachia. Webb announced the donation Saturday during the health professions commencement ceremony, WYMT-TV reported. (5/10)
