Calif. Facilities Receive Mixed Ratings on Hospital-Acquired Conditions
On Wednesday, Consumer Reports released ratings on how well hospitals across California and the U.S. prevent hospital-acquired conditions, the Los Angeles Times reports (Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 7/31).
Details of Ratings
About 3,000 hospitals were included in the ratings. The data cover hospital performance between October 2013 and September 2014 (Bird, FierceHealthcare, 7/29).
For the first time, Consumer Reports included CDC data on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile in its hospital ratings (Consumer Reports, 7/29). The ratings also used data on central-line associated blood stream infections, surgical-site infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections to generate an overall infection prevention score (FierceHealthcare, 7/29).
Overall safety scores were out of 100 points (Consumer Reports California ratings, July 2015).
National Findings
After adjusting for various factors, such as institution size, type and patient mix, the highest-performing hospitals tended to be non-teaching providers and smaller facilities. Generally, teaching hospitals and large facilities performed the worst on infection prevention (Welch, CBS News, 7/29).
Consumer Reports found that 322 hospitals reported zero cases of MRSA, while 357 hospitals reported no C. diff infections (FierceHealthcare, 7/29). In total, 105 hospitals received high ratings for preventing both MRSA and C. diff (Consumer Reports, 7/29).
California Findings
In California, the hospitals with the highest safety ratings included:
- Oak Valley Hospital District in Oakdale, which scored a 70;
- St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, which scored a 68;
- Sutter Roseville Medical Center, which scored a 67;
- Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame, which scored a 67; and
- Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe, which scored a 66.
Meanwhile, the lowest-rated California hospitals included:
- Adventist Medical Center in Hanford, which scored a 23;
- Menifee Valley Medical Center in Sun City, which scored a 27;
- Sierra View District Hospital in Porterville, which scored a 27;
- Adventist Medical Center in Reedley, which scored a 30; and
- Delano Regional Medical Center, which scored a 30 (Consumer Reports California ratings, July 2015).