When an emergency happens and medical care is required, we go to the hospital. We simply assume that the nearest hospital will be clean, sterile and staffed with great doctors, nurses and technicians that will work to ensure we make a quick and effective recovery. However, a recent grading of South Florida hospitals by the Leapfrog Group, a national leader and advocate in hospital transparency, has revealed an alarming reality – not all hospitals are created the same.
With our goal of saving lives by reducing errors, injuries, accidents, and infections, The Leapfrog Group focuses on measuring and publicly reporting hospital performance through their annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
Leapfrog’s grading system assigns each hospital a grade from A to F based on these overall best practices:
- Infections
- Surgical Errors
- Error Prevention
- Safety Issues
- Doctors, Nurses & Staff
Out of the 35 hospitals listed in Miami, FL, thankfully none received an “F,” but a shocking 48 percent received a grade of “C” or below including Jackson Memorial Hospital, the University of Miami Hospital and Baptist Hospital. To view the complete Miami list, click here.
Now third party rankings have a lot of variables and each grade needs to be evaluated on its own merit. There are countless numbers of great physicians, nurses and staff doing amazing work at hospitals that received both “C” and “D” grades. However, with medical errors ranking as one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., you have to be careful when it comes to the quality of your health care.
Choosing your medical care based on credible research rather than proximity could be a matter of life and death. If you or someone you love has been a victim of medical negligence, contact the attorneys at Weinstein & Cohen for a free and confidential legal consultation to learn more about your options at 305-374-2011 or 239-793-3331.
