As part of The Leapfrog Group's spring safety grades, the organization released a new ranking of metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of hospitals that earned an 'A'.
Nearly 73% of hospitals in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey earned an 'A' grade — the highest of any metro area in the country.
Leapfrog has assigned grades to nearly 3,000 acute-care general hospitals across the nation every fall and spring since 2012. The grades evaluate hospitals' performance on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents and infections, based on up to 22 safety measures from CMS, the Leapfrog Hospital survey and other sources. It is the only hospital ratings program solely based on the ability to prevent patient harm and medical errors. The full methodology can be found here.
The metropolitan rankings are limited to areas with populations of at least 500,000 and at least six hospitals. The metro areas are determined by core-based statistical areas used by the U.S. Census and defined by the Office of Management and Budget.
Here are the 15 metro areas with the highest percentage of 'A' rated hospitals, including ties:
1. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (Pa. and N.J.) — 72.7%
2. Winston-Salem, N.C. — 71.4%
3. New Orleans-Metairie (La.) — 68.8%
4. Boise City, Idaho — 66.7%
4. Chattanooga (Tenn. and Ga.) — 66.7%
4. Provo-Orem (Utah) — 66.7%
7. Raleigh-Cary (N.C.) — 62.5%
7. Charleston-North Charleston (S.C.) — 62.5%
9. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (Fla.) — 61.9%
10. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Calif.) — 60%
10. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (Va. and N.C.) — 60%
10. Knoxville (Tenn.) — 60%
13. Jacksonville (Fla.) — 57.1%
13. Harrisburg-Carlisle (Pa.) — 57.1%
13. Northport-Sarasota-Bradenton (Fla.) — 57.1%