111 patient safety benchmarks | 2018

Benchmarking data is valuable for hospital and health system leaders to measure individual institutions and discover areas of excellence, as well as identify opportunities for improvement.

Becker's Hospital Review compiled 111 patient safety benchmarks from various sources for hospital comparison.

Readmissions, Mortality and Complications

Entries one through 11 are based on data from CMS' Hospital Compare website, last updated May 23, 2018. Data presented reflect the national average.

30-day average readmission rates

  1. Heart attack: 16.3 percent
  2. Heart failure: 21.6 percent
  3. Pneumonia: 16.9 percent

30-day average death rates

  1. Heart attack: 13.6 percent
  2. Heart failure: 11.9 percent
  3. Pneumonia: 15.9 percent

Rates of serious complications

Figures reflect the national average rates per 1,000 patient discharges.

  1. Collapsed lung due to medical treatment: 0.4
  2. Serious blood clots after surgery: 4.35
  3. A wound that splits open after surgery, abdomen or pelvis: 2.26
  4. Accidental cuts and tears from medical treatment: 0.88
  5. Deaths among patients with serious treatable complications after surgery: 139.05

Respondents reporting events in the past 12 months

Entries 12 through 17 are based on data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2018 User Comparative Database Report, using data from 382,834 surveyed hospital providers and staff respondents from 630 hospitals. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

  1. No reported events: 55 percent
  2. One to two reported events: 25 percent
  3. Three to five reported events: 13 percent
  4. Six to 10 reported events: 4 percent
  5. Eleven to 20 reported events: 2 percent
  6. Twenty-one or more reported events: 1 percent

Healthcare-Associated Infections

Entries 18 through 31 are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HAI Progress Report that includes 2014 data, published in 2016. The report uses data from the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network. Around 17,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities report data to NHSN.

National standardized infection ratio (a summary statistic that can be used to track HAI prevention progress over time)

  1. CLABSI: 0.50
  2. CAUTI: 1.00
  3. MRSA bacteremia: 0.87
  4. C. difficile infections: 0.92

National standardized infection ratios for surgical site infection

  1. Hip arthroplasty: 0.78
  2. Knee arthroplasty: 0.59
  3. Colon surgery: 0.98
  4. Rectal surgery: 0.60
  5. Abdominal hysterectomy: 0.83
  6. Vaginal hysterectomy: 0.86
  7. Coronary artery bypass graft: 0.55
  8. Other cardiac surgery: 0.42
  9. Peripheral vascular bypass surgery: 0.70
  10. Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: 0.28

Sentinel events

Entries 32 through 41 are based on The Joint Commission's sentinel event data summary published in March 2018, representing the number of sentinel events The Joint Commission reviewed for each category in 2017.

Sentinel events reviewed by The Joint Commission:

  1. Unintended retention of a foreign body: 116
  2. Falls: 114
  3. Wrong patient, wrong site, wrong procedures: 95
  4. Suicides: 89
  5. Delay in treatment: 66
  6. Other unanticipated events (including asphyxiation, burn, choking on food, drowning or being found unresponsive): 60
  7. Criminal event: 37
  8. Medication error: 32
  9. Operative/postoperative complications: 19
  10. Self-inflicted injury: 18

Process of Care Measures

Entries 42 through 60 are based on data from CMS' Hospital Compare website, last updated April 24, 2018. Data presented reflect the national average.

Heart attack/chest pain patient data

  1. Average (median) time before outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack were transferred to another hospital if he or she needed specialized care: 57 minutes
  2. Average (median) time before outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack got an electrocardiogram: 7 minutes
  3. Percent of outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who received fibrinolytic medication within 30 minutes of arrival: 59 percent
  4. Average (median) time to fibrinolysis for heart attack or chest pain patients: 28 minutes
  5. Percentage of outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who got aspirin within 24 hours of arrival: 95 percent

Preventive care

  1. Percentage of patients assessed and given influenza vaccination: 93 percent
  2. Percentage of healthcare workers given influenza vaccination: 88 percent

Colonoscopy care

  1. Percentage of patients receiving appropriate recommendation for follow-up screening colonoscopy: 85 percent
  2. Percentage of patients with history of polyps receiving follow-up colonoscopy in the appropriate time frame: 90 percent

Emergency department

  1. Average (median) time spent in the emergency department before being admitted as an inpatient: 281 minutes
  2. Average (median) time spent in the emergency department after physician decided to admit them as an inpatient before moving from emergency department to inpatient room: 102 minutes
  3. Average time spent in the emergency department before leaving from the visit: 140 minutes
  4. Average (median) time spent in the emergency department before being seen by a healthcare professional: 20 minutes
  5. Average (median) time spent waiting with broken bones before receiving pain medication: 49 minutes
  6. Percentage of patients who left the emergency department before being seen: 2 percent
  7. Percentage of patients who came to the emergency room with stroke symptoms and received brain scan results within 45 minutes of arrival: 72 percent

Blood clot prevention and treatment

  1. Patients who developed a blood clot while in the hospital who did not get treatment that could have prevented it: 2 percent

Cataract surgery

  1. Percentage of patients who had cataract surgery and had improvement in visual function within 90 days after surgery: 96 percent

Pregnancy care

  1. Percentage of mothers whose deliveries were scheduled too early (one to two weeks early) when a scheduled delivery was not medically necessary: 2 percent

Patient Experience

Entries 61 through 89 are based on data from the CMS Hospital Compare website, last updated May 22. Data presented reflects the national average.

Overall hospital rating

  1. Patients who gave the hospital a rating of nine or 10: 73 percent
  2. Patients who gave the hospital a rating of seven or eight: 20 percent
  3. Patients who gave the hospital a rating of six or lower: 7 percent

Patient recommendation

  1. Patients who said yes, they would definitely recommend the hospital to friends and family: 72 percent
  2. Patients who said yes, they would probably recommend the hospital to friends and family: 23 percent
  3. Patients who said no, they probably or definitely would not recommend the hospital to friends and family: 5 percent

Cleanliness

  1. Patients who said their room and bathroom were "always" clean: 75 percent
  2. Patients who said their room and bathroom were "usually" clean: 17 percent
  3. Patients who said their room and bathroom were "sometimes" or "never" clean: 8 percent

Noise

  1. Patients who said the area around their room was "always" quiet at night: 62 percent
  2. Patients who said the area around their room was "usually" quiet at night: 29 percent
  3. Patients who said the area around their room was "sometimes" or "never" quiet at night: 9 percent

Physician communication

  1. Patients who said their physicians "always" communicated well: 82 percent
  2. Patients who said their physicians "usually" communicated well: 14 percent
  3. Patients who said their physicians "sometimes" or "never" communicated well: 4 percent

Nurse communication

  1. Patients who said their nurses "always" communicated well: 80 percent
  2. Patients who said their nurses "usually" communicated well: 16 percent
  3. Patients who said their nurses "sometimes" or "never" communicated well: 4 percent

Explanation of medicines

  1. Patients who said staff "always" explained medicines before administering: 66 percent
  2. Patients who said staff "usually" explained medicines before administering: 17 percent
  3. Patients who said staff "sometimes" or "never" explained medicines before administering: 17 percent

Assistance from hospital staff

  1. Patients who said they "always" received help as soon as they wanted: 69 percent
  2. Patients who said they "usually" received help as soon as they wanted: 23 percent
  3. Patients who said they "sometimes" or "never" received help as soon as they wanted: 8 percent

Recovery plan

  1. Patients who said staff provided information about what to do during their recovery at home: 87 percent
  2. Patients who said staff did not provide information about what to do during their recovery at home: 13 percent

Care plan at discharge

  1. Patients who strongly agreed they understood their care when they left the hospital: 53 percent
  2. Patients who agreed they understood their care when they left the hospital: 42 percent
  3. Patients who disagreed or strongly disagreed they understood their care when they left the hospital: 5 percent

Patient Volumes and Hospital Beds

Entries 90 through 94 are from the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2016 State Health Facts, the most recent data available. Data presented represent the average annual patient volume per 1,000 population.

  1. Number of hospital admissions: 103
  2. Number of hospital inpatient days: 564
  3. Hospital emergency room visits: 440
  4. Hospital outpatient visits: 2,312
  5. Hospital beds: 2.4

Patient Safety Culture

Entries 95 through 111 are based on data from AHRQ's Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2018 User Database Report, using data from 382,834 surveyed hospital staff respondents from 630 hospitals.

  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting teamwork within units:
  • 10th percentile: 76 percent
  • 25th percentile: 79 percent
  • Median: 83 percent
  • 75th percentile: 86 percent
  • 90th percentile: 89 percent
  • Average: 82 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety:
  • 10th percentile: 73 percent
  • 25th percentile: 76 percent
  • Median: 80 percent
  • 75th percentile: 84 percent
  • 90th percentile: 87 percent
  • Average: 80 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting organizational learning and continuous improvement from mistakes:
  • 10th percentile: 64 percent
  • 25th percentile: 68 percent
  • Median: 73 percent
  • 75th percentile: 77 percent
  • 90th percentile: 80 percent
  • Average: 72 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting management support for patient safety:
  • 10th percentile: 61 percent
  • 25th percentile: 67 percent
  • Median: 73 percent
  • 75th percentile: 78 percent
  • 90th percentile: 82 percent
  • Average: 72 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting overall perceptions of patient safety:
  • 10th percentile: 55 percent
  • 25th percentile: 61 percent
  • Median: 66 percent
  • 75th percentile: 71 percent
  • 90th percentile: 77 percent
  • Average: 66 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting feedback and communications about errors:
  • 10th percentile: 59 percent
  • 25th percentile: 64 percent
  • Median: 69 percent
  • 75th percentile: 73 percent
  • 90th percentile: 79 percent
  • Average: 69 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting frequency of events that had potential to cause harm but did not cause harm and were reported:
  • 10th percentile: 58 percent
  • 25th percentile: 62 percent
  • Median: 67 percent
  • 75th percentile: 72 percent
  • 90th percentile: 76 percent
  • Average: 67 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting communication and openness:
  • 10th percentile: 57 percent
  • 25th percentile: 61 percent
  • Median: 66 percent
  • 75th percentile: 70 percent
  • 90th percentile: 74 percent
  • Average: 66 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting teamwork across units:
  • 10th percentile: 50 percent
  • 25th percentile: 55 percent
  • Median: 62 percent
  • 75th percentile: 68 percent
  • 90th percentile: 75 percent
  • Average: 62 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting adequate unit staffing to provide quality care:
  • 10th percentile: 43 percent
  • 25th percentile: 47 percent
  • Median: 53 percent
  • 75th percentile: 59 percent
  • 90th percentile: 65 percent
  • Average: 53 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting smooth informational handoffs and care transitions:
  • 10th percentile: 35 percent
  • 25th percentile: 40 percent
  • Median: 46 percent
  • 75th percentile: 54 percent
  • 90th percentile: 62 percent
  • Average: 48 percent
  1. Percentage of hospital staff reporting nonpunitive response to error:
  • 10th percentile: 37 percent
  • 25th percentile: 41 percent
  • Median: 47 percent
  • 75th percentile: 53 percent
  • 90th percentile: 59 percent
  • Average: 47 percent

Percentage of respondents giving their work area a patient safety grade:

  1. Excellent: 35 percent
  2. Very good: 43 percent
  3. Acceptable: 18 percent
  4. Poor: 4 percent
  5. Failing: 1 percent

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