Patient Quality and Safety
Engagement > Consumer Tools and Resources > Patient Quality and Safety
Most patients are unaware of the potential dangers that can lie behind hospital walls – or that they have access to data and information to help them make choices bases on quality and safety. Even though Minnesota is one of the overall healthiest places to live in the U.S., not all providers or care settings offer the same level of quality. By giving employees access to important information, you give them the power to make informed care decisions for themselves and their families.
Members, access The Action Group’s Patient Quality and Safety Toolkit here.
Adverse Events Reporting
The Minnesota Adverse Health Events Reporting Law, passed in 2003, provides health care consumers with information on how well hospitals, community behavioral health hospitals, and outpatient surgical centers are doing at preventing adverse events. The law requires that these facilities disclose when any of 28 serious reportable events (also called “never events”) occur and requires the Minnesota Department of Health to publish annual reports of the events by facility, along with an analysis of the events, the corrections implemented by facilities and any recommendations for improvement. Consumers can access the latest annual report here. Minnesota is one of only a handful of states that require hospitals to report publicly on adverse events.
Hospital Quality Information
On behalf of purchasers and employers across the country, The Leapfrog Group aims to:
- Inform Americans about their hospital safety and quality
- Promote full public disclosure of hospital performance information
- Help employers provide the best healthcare benefits to their employees
Over 1,200 hospitals voluntarily complete Leapfrog’s Hospital Survey on an annual basis. Consumers can access survey results for participating hospitals in Minnesota and across the country.
Hospital Safety Score
The Hospital Safety Score is an A, B, C, D, or F letter grade reflecting how safe hospitals are for patients. For the first time ever, this score provides the information necessary for consumers to make informed decisions about the safety of your hospital care. Nine of the world’s top experts in patient and hospital safety came together to create the Hospital Safety Score. The goal of the Hospital Safety Score is to reduce the 180,000 yearly deaths from hospital errors and injuries through publicly recognizing safety and exposing harm. “Harm” ranges from infections and acquired injuries (such as bedsores) to medication mix-ups and other errors. Consumers can find information on state rankings, as well as rankings for individual hospitals in Minnesota and nationwide.