The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit, representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, announced the fall 2023 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The grade reflects preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections that together result in more than 500 deaths per day in the U.S. The Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health is Leapfrog Regional Leader for southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

For the fall 2023 Safety Grade nationwide, nearly 30% of hospitals earned an “A,” 24% earned a “B,” 39% earned a “C,” 7% earned a “D,” and less than 1% earned an “F.” In southeastern Pennsylvania, 35 hospitals were graded, and 12 earned an “A”, 14 earned a “B”, 7 earned a “C”, and 2 earned a “D”. In Delaware, 7 hospitals were graded, and no hospitals earned an “A”, 1 earned a “B”, and 6 earned a “C”. Pennsylvania ranked fourth in the country overall for percentage of “A” hospitals.

The latest grades are the first to reflect post-pandemic hospital performance. Notably, Leapfrog found significant decreases in three dangerous health care-associated infections (HAIs), but patient experience reports continue to decline in all states for the second year in a row.

“We are fortunate to have so many “A” and “B” graded hospitals to choose from in the Greater Philadelphia region, and encourage consumers to use this information when deciding where to go for elective procedures and other non-emergent inpatient care,” said Neil Goldfarb, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health. “We're also deeply concerned about the persistent “D” grades received by the Crozer Health system hospitals, and hope to engage in conversation with them about how they are addressing patient safety improvement. Meanwhile, employers and payers should be steering their business toward safer facilities.”

“We know the pandemic caused tremendous strain on hospitals, but we are encouraged by the significant reduction in infections and applaud the hospitals in the Greater Philadelphia Region that worked to achieve that. It is clear, however, that many hospitals have not fully rebounded, as shown by the declining patient experience measures,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Despite the challenges, we commend the hospitals in southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware that are clearly putting patients first.”

The Leapfrog Group has a more than 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the U.S., based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring. For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, as well as individual hospital grades and state rankings, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook and via its newsletter.

About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. For more information, please visit www.leapfroggroup.org.