Hospital safety watchdog gives Pueblo hospital lowest grade in Colorado

A national nonprofit watchdog that scores hospitals on their overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors has issued vastly different scores for Pueblo's two hospitals.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades scored UCHealth Parkview Medical Center with a "D" grade, while Common Spirit's St. Mary-Corwin received an "A" grade.

The "D" grade for Parkview was the lowest of any hospital scored by the nonprofit in the state of Colorado.

St. Mary-Corwin says rating is a 'gold star' for its care team

According to a press release from Common Spirit, "Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally."

“The safety of our patients is at the forefront of everything we do. We strive to deliver health care that is compassionate, top-quality and safety-focused,” said Mike Cafasso, chief executive officer for St. Mary-Corwin. “This 'A' grade is a gold star for our care team and assurance for the community members who trust St. Mary Corwin with their care.”

St. Mary-Corwin was among nine Common Spirit mountain region hospitals to receive the "A" grade.

“This recognition belongs to our exceptional physicians and care teams who constantly strive to improve our care and protect patients from preventable harm," said Oswaldo Grenardo, senior vice president and chief clinical officer for Common Spirit.

Parkview calls Leapfrog letter grades 'arbitrary'

Of the 45 hospitals graded by the agency in Colorado this spring, Parkview was the only one to receive a "D" grade. Although Parkview did receive a "C" grade last spring, most of the hospital's scores in recent years have been "D" grades.

According to a statement released by Parkview, "UCHealth does not participate in Leapfrog surveys due to concerns regarding their methodology and data accuracy, which we believe renders their letter grades arbitrary. Our decision is based on Leapfrog's reliance on unverified data submissions and their cumbersome data survey collection process, which detracts from our focus on patient care improvements."

According to Leapfrog, scores are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data, including data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, using up to 31 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety. Leapfrog claims to rely on the guidance of a 10-physician expert panel to select appropriate measures and develop a scoring methodology.

Parkview's Communications Specialist Todd Seip reported that "Leapfrog may pull data from other sources, or reuse previous scores or data from four years ago, leading to inaccurate comparisons and lower scores for non-participating hospitals."

"While our analysis suggests that UCHealth Parkview’s grades would be higher if we fully participated, we allocate our resources elsewhere to drive meaningful quality improvements," Seip said.

Among the inaccuracies in Leapfrog's grades, Seip said, are the scores related to computerized medication orders and Intensive Care Unit staffing, both of which received a "worse than average" score. He said Parkview uses EPIC advanced technology software, which makes it possible for every patient to have a single, comprehensive electronic medical record; and the hospital has "specially trained staff in all areas to ensure high-quality care."

Leapfrog has sought payment "to license their analysis for marketing purposes," which "further underscores our reservations," Seip said.

According to the Leapfrog website, "Leapfrog enables hospitals to utilize the Hospital Safety Grade “A” logo for marketing or any internal/external display purposes with the completion of a marketing license agreement with The Leapfrog Group."

Are Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades accurate?

As an example of the potential inaccuracies of Leapfrog's grading, Seip pointed to an independent study from the University of Michigan that questioned Leapfrog's methodology and its correlation with hospital performance metrics. The study suggested limitations in Leapfrog's ability to accurately assess hospital safety because "more than half of hospitals that complete the Leapfrog survey report perfect performance on all of the safe practice measures."

According to a National Library of Medicine study, "Voluntary Leapfrog Safe Practice Scores skew towards positive self-report with little association with compulsory Medicare outcomes and penalties."

Another article by Relias Media indicates that "by and large, most hospital administrators and quality experts consulted by Healthcare Risk Management say the Leapfrog scores are considered reliable."

The Leapfrog Group reports its goal "is to publicly report patient safety and quality information for the benefit of consumers, purchasers, and referring physicians as they make decisions about where to seek care and where to direct patients. Identifying differences among facilities is critical to inform patients and their family's decision-making," according to the agency's website.

Past Parkview coverage: Merger between UCHealth and Pueblo's Parkview Health System set to finalize in December

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via X, formerly Twitter, at twitter.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo hospital gets lowest grade in Colorado from safety watchdog