According to newly-launched hospitalsafetyscore.org, Phoenix-area hospitals are about average. With the exception of two area hospitals, all were given a "C" grade by the rating website. A simple search for Phoenix, Arizona hospitals show the Mayo Clinic Hospital is the best in town, with an "A" grade and Banner Estrella Medical Center is above average for patient safety, earning a "B" grade.

The grading website was created by the LeapFrog Group, a voluntary organization whose mission is to "trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality and affordability of health care." According to LeapFrog, over 400 people die in hospitals every day due to medical malpractice errors, up to 180,000 people per year. In addition, LeapFrog notes that each patient in a hospital is the victim of one medication error per day.

The website is intended as a resource for patients and families and uses publicly available information on infections, medical errors, medication errors and patient safety to come up with a final grade for each hospital.

Each hospital score is based on:

  • Process measures: Does the hospital follow recommended treatment procedures for all patients?
  • Structural measures: Does the hospital maintain an infrastructure that improves patient care, such as a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system to minimize medication errors?
  • Outcome measures: What happens to patients who are treated at the hospital? Are they readmitted? Do surgical patients commonly have instruments left inside of them after a procedure?

Process and structural measures make up half of the overall score and outcome measures make up the other half.

Source: HospitalSafetyScore.org, Search for Phoenix, Arizona Hospitals