The Boston University-affiliated Boston Medical Center fell slightly in the most recent national safety rankings compiled by the hospital safety rating agency The Leapfrog Group.
This comes as Massachusetts’ statewide hospital safety ranking fell from fourth to 12th place over the past six months, according to the rankings. BMC received a “B” rating this fall after receiving an “A” grade for hospital safety in the spring.
A BMC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The Leapfrog Group graded more than 2,600 hospitals across the country, 33 percent of which received an “A,” according to their website. In Massachusetts, 25 institutions received an “A,” a decrease from this spring when 28 hospitals received top marks.
Nationwide, 25 percent of hospitals received a “B” rating, 34 percent received a “C,” 8 percent received a “D” and less than 1 percent recieved an “F” grade.
The Harvard University-affiliated teaching hospital Massachusetts General Hospital received an “A” grade, while Tufts Medical Center received a “B” rating, according to the rankings.
Leapfrog releases hospital safety rankings twice a year in an effort to keep patients safe from “preventable harm and medical errors,” according to their website. Every year, 160,000 people die from hospital safety problems, their website says.
The organization bases its grading on criteria such as how well a hospital prevents infections and encourages hand washing and the procedures in place to prevent errors such as leaving dangerous objects in a patient’s body after surgery, according to their website.
Leapfrog uses information from a number of sources, their website says, including data submitted by hospitals to the federal government and information reported on an annual survey the nonprofit sends to hospitals.
Erica Mobley, director of operations for The Leapfrog Group, said the organization pays special attention to whether hospitals have the right technology to prevent “medication errors,” which are mistakes made in prescribing and dispensing drugs.
“Medication errors are the most common type of error that happens in a hospital,” Mobley said. “Hospitals that have this technology in place are really effective at decreasing the incidence of medication errors.”
Leah Binder, CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a press release the rankings have become much more precise since the organization began grading hospitals 20 years ago.
“It also allows us to better track progress,” Binder said. “Encouragingly, we are seeing fewer deaths from the preventable errors we monitor in our grading process.”
Mobley said many hospitals will try to make changes if they do not receive an “A” grade.
“They can easily identify areas where they are falling short and hopefully make improvements.” Mobley said. “At the same time, we see hospitals that are doing well and their grade drops. It goes both ways.”
Josh Chase, 45, of Milford, said he would “probably” feel safe at a hospital that received a“B” rating.
“We have a few hospitals which are quite good.” Chase said. “If I am going to a hospital, I probably don’t have a choice. I’m just probably going to the closest one, so I’m not really sure [the grade] would have an impact.”
Brighton resident Nicole Amidon, 26, said she has been to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which received an “A” grade, and said she appreciates the hospital got the highest rating.
“It’s health and safety, so as high a grade as possible would be great,” Amidon said. “I would feel a little bit unsafe if the rest of the hospitals were getting ‘A’ grades.”
