3 Montgomery hospitals given safety grades
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - "Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades" have been awarded and Alabama ranks 30 out of 50 states. Each state had varying numbers of hospitals scored, ranging from five in Alaska to 271 in California. Alabama had 53 hospitals scored, but only 24.5 percent of them received an "A".
In Montgomery Baptist Medical Center East, Baptist Medical Center South, and Jackson Hospital were each scored.
The percentage system comes from the number of hospitals from that state that scored an "A" divided by the total number of hospitals scored in total. Baptist Medical Center East scored an A while the remaining two facilities scored a C for the spring of 2017.
Despite the grades, Merrill South, the public relations manager for Baptist Medical Center South, says that the grades are not a clear telltale sign.
"The methodology used in this report only includes five of a hundred or more potential quality measures and the grades must be interpreted in context," South cautioned.
Jackson Hospital Marketing Director Peter Frohmader shared a similar view in reference to Leapfrog's ratings.
"These organizations use different quality measures, performance data, and methodologies to calculate scores," he said. "As a result, a hospital may perform well on one report card and poorly on another." Frohmader also believes that the Leapfrog ratings do not benefit larger hospitals.
"We don't believe the Leapfrog measures are well designed because they unfairly penalize hospitals that care for the sickest patients," Frohmader went on. "The program's methodology scores hospitals only on those measures for which they have sufficient data. This puts larger hospitals at a disadvantage because they are more likely to have data for each measure and tend to treat a sicker patient population."
South tended to agree.
"While Baptist Medical Center East and Prattville Baptist Hospital scored high on the latest Leapfrog report, Baptist Medical Center South is the tertiary referral center for Central Alabama and consistently treats patients who are sicker and require a higher level of care than smaller community hospitals can deliver," she stated.
South was also adamant about patients speaking with their physicians before simply choosing hospitals based on a simple grade system.
"The public should consult with their physician and review a variety of sources when making health care decisions such as choosing the right hospital for their individual medical needs," South said.
In Leapfrog's report, the state of Maine averaged the highest percentage of "A" grades with 11 of the 16 hospitals, or about 69 percent, earning the top spot. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was a four-way tie for last place between Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and North Dakota.
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