Thursday, November 7, 2019, 9:45 pm News Flash Archive

Early this morning, the Leapfrog Group, a nation-wide non-profit healthcare safety and patient advocacy organization, issued its Fall 2019 hospital safety ratings. The report is being covered by leading national media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, New York Newsday, and many television network affiliates and newspapers.

Greenwood Leflore Hospital received a "C" grade in the report, up from last Spring's grade of "D".

But according to the rating results published this morning, Greenwood Leflore Hospital declined to answer the Leapfrog survey questions. This resulted in 7 safety areas in which no data was reported or available. An additional 6 safety areas used less current data to fill in the missing survey data that GLH declined to provide.

The report is based on the latest publicly available data from CMS, the federal agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid, as well as upon Leapfrog hospital surveys, which collect data from the hospital administrators themselves. According to Leapfrog, it was this survey that GLH administrators declined to answer.

In last Spring's ratings, the Hospital had answered the questions on the Leapfrog survey.

This time, according to Leapfrog, GLH did not answer the questions relating to the following safety areas:

• Infection in the blood
• Infection in the urinary tract
• Surgical site infection after colon surgery
• MRSA Infection
• C.diff. Infection
• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients
• Doctors order medications through a computer
• Safe medication administration
• Effective leadership to prevent errors
• Staff work together to prevent errors
• Track and reduce risks to patients
• Enough qualified nurses
• Handwashing

Based on 28 different measures, the report attempts to provide an overall measure of patient safety. According to Leapfrog, patients treated in hospitals rated "D" or "F" are twice as likely to succumb to "avoidable deaths" as those treated in higher-rated hospitals.

Some of the lower rated hospitals nation-wide claim that recent improvements they have instituted are not yet reflected in the data analyzed by Leapfrog, which could be a year or two old. GLH itself made that claim after last Spring's rating report.

In Mississippi, 11 hospitals gained an "A" rating, 5 a "B" rating, and 15 a "C" rating, and 4 a "D" rating.

There were no "F" grades among the 35 hospitals rated in Mississippi by Leapfrog.

According to Leapfrog, 25% of the "A" and "B" rated hospitals refused to answer the survey, while 63% of the "C" and "D" rated hospitals refused to participate in the survey.

Well-known hospitals who fully participated in the Leapfrog Survey include Bolivar Medical Center (A), Baptist Hospital Jackson (A), Singing River Pascagoula (B), DRMC Greenville (C), St. Dominic (C), UMMC Jackson (C), and UMMC Grenada (C).

Local Hospitals received the following grades:
A - Bolivar Medical Center (Cleveland)
A - NW MS Medical Center (Clarksdale)
B - Baptist Memorial (Oxford)
C - UMMC Grenada
C - DRMC (Greenville)
C - GLH (Greenwood)

According to the safety report, GLH scored below average in a number of critical areas, including:

• blood infections
• dangerous bed sores
• serious breathing problems
• lack of specially trained doctors to manage ICU patients
• communication with nurses
• responsiveness by staff to patient concerns
• communication about discharge

GLH could not be rated in the following critical safety areas due to failure to respond to the survey, according to Leapfrog:

• doctors order medications through a computer
• safe medication administration
• effective leadership to prevent errors
• staff work together to prevent errors
• track and reduce risks to patients
• enough qualified nurses
• handwashing

GLH received higher than average marks in the following areas:

• dangerous objects left in patient
• air bubbles in the blood
• patient falls and injuries
• urinary tract infections
• MRSA infections
• control of C-diff infections
• collapsed lungs
• dangerous blood clots
• surgical wound splits open
• accidental cuts and tears
• communication with doctors

The Taxpayers Channel requested comment from GLH administrators this evening, but as of publication time, has not received a reply.

Leapfrog has overwritten the Fall 2019 report and it is no longer available. The entire study results for GLH may be viewed here: GLH Hospital Safety Results, Fall 2019

To review TTC coverage of the Spring 2019 Leapfrog Safety Report, see here:
Greenwood Leflore Hospital given "D" Safety Rating in national study

For complete coverage of these and other hospital milestones, please go here: Taxpayers Channel coverage of Greenwood Leflore Hospital's downfall.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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