Hospital safety scores: do grades really matter?
This editorial examines whether The Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Score accurately directs patients to hospitals with better outcomes. The Leapfrog grades were linked to patient outcomes using national Medicare databases. The small subset of hospitals with failing grades (D or F) had worse outcomes, including increased mortality. Differences among hospitals receiving A, B, or C grades were negligible, raising questions about the value of these scores.