Medical errors remain one of the leading causes of death in the United States, ranking just behind heart disease and cancer according to ongoing patient safety research led by experts at Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Studies continue to estimate that hundreds of thousands of patients die each year from preventable medical errors in U.S. hospitals — an alarming figure that translates to more than 1,000 preventable deaths every day.
Older adults are particularly vulnerable. Research shows that patients over age 65 face a significantly higher risk of experiencing complications during a hospital stay, including infections, medication errors, falls, and surgical complications. Despite these risks, many errors go unreported due to limited transparency and inconsistent reporting requirements, leaving patients and families unaware of a hospital’s true safety record.
Patient safety experts emphasize that these incidents often occur in isolation — one patient here, another there — making them easy to overlook. But when viewed collectively, the scope of the problem becomes undeniable. As experts note, people enter hospitals expecting to recover, not to be exposed to preventable harm, underscoring the importance of public awareness and informed decision-making.
To address these concerns, national patient safety leaders — including researchers from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Vanderbilt, the CDC, and others — worked with The Leapfrog Group to develop measurable hospital safety standards. These standards evaluate outcomes such as infections, patient falls, communication quality, ICU staffing, and deaths from treatable complications. Today, Leapfrog assigns letter grades (A–F) to more than 2,600 hospitals nationwide based on these criteria.
Hospital safety grades continue to reveal significant differences in performance, even among facilities with highly regarded surgeons or advanced technology. Experts stress that strong safety culture, adequate staffing, effective communication, and administrative commitment are essential to preventing errors and improving outcomes.
Ultimately, hospital safety report cards are not meant to single out individual providers, but to encourage transparency, accountability, and improvement. Patients are urged to review hospital safety data, ask questions, and advocate for themselves and their loved ones. As patient safety leaders consistently emphasize, improvement is achievable — and informed patients play a critical role in driving safer care.
Originally reported by Kathleen Phalen-Tomaselli. Updated for current relevance.