Austin hospital receives ‘A’ grade

Grades are in for several area hospitals, and it’s good news for most.

Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin received an ‘A’ grade Wednesday from a nonprofit group, known as Leapfrog, based on 26 different measures collected by Leapfrog or Medicare officials. They included about 2,700 U.S. hospitals’ adherence to safe practices, such as entering physician orders into computer records to avoid penmanship errors and removing catheters promptly to minimize the risk of infections. The grade was also based on hospitals’ records of mishaps, such as bed sores, infections and punctured lungs.

Leapfrog gave 729 hospitals an “A” grade, 679 hospitals a “B” and 1,111 hospitals a “C.” Another 132 hospitals were scored with “Grade Pending,” Leapfrog’s euphemism for below a “C.”

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Owatonna Hospital all received an ‘A’ grade, and Olmsted Medical Center received a ‘C.’

The American Hospital Association disputed Leapfrog’s ratings, saying in a statement that it “has supported several good quality measures but many of the measures Leapfrog uses to grade hospitals are flawed, and they do not accurately portray a picture of the safety efforts made by hospitals.”

Find the report at hospitalsafetyscore.org.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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