A comparison of data from CMS and The Leapfrog Group suggests that a hospital’s strong performance in one national quality rating system does not necessarily mean it will be a top performer in another.
Leapfrog updated its spring safety grades May 1, recognizing 11 hospitals that have received an “A” grade in every consecutive update since 2012. Of these hospitals, only six received a five-star rating from CMS. Similar discrepancies are seen across Leapfrog’s 19 “F” hospitals. While eight did receive one star — the lowest possible rating — seven received two stars, and one hospital earned three stars. Star ratings were not available for three remaining hospitals.
Hospitals have long pushed back against Leapfrog’s safety grades, arguing that the methodology is flawed and unfairly penalizes facilities that don’t voluntarily submit survey data. On April 30, five Florida hospitals filed a lawsuit against Leapfrog over the safety grades, claiming they unfairly damage the facilities’ reputations. The lawsuit represents the third filed against Leapfrog by hospitals since 2017. The previous two lawsuits were dismissed.
Leapfrog assigned letter grades to nearly 3,000 acute care hospitals based on 22 patient safety measures from CMS including accidents, healthcare-acquired infections and preventable errors. Leapfrog also collects information from hospitals that complete voluntary hospital surveys and other sources. Data reporting periods range from July 2021 to June 2024, depending on the measure.
CMS updated its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings in July, assigning a star rating to more than 4,500 hospitals based on 46 hospital quality measures. These are divided into five quality categories: safety of care, mortality, patient experience, readmission rates and timely and effective care. Data reporting periods range from July 2019 to March 2023, depending on the measure.
The CMS star ratings for Leapfrog’s spring 2025 straight-“A” hospitals:
Saint Anne’s Hospital (Fall River, Mass.) — Three stars
University of Chicago Medical Center — Three stars
Elmhurst (Ill.) Memorial Hospital — Four stars
Kaiser Permanente Orange County-Anaheim (Calif.) Medical Center* — Four stars
Sentara Leigh Hospital (Norfolk, Va.) — Four stars
French Hospital Medical Center (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) — Five stars
Inova Loudoun Hospital (Leesburg, Va.) — Five stars
Mayo Clinic Hospital (Phoenix) — Five stars
Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital (Winfield, Ill.) — Five stars
Sentara CarePlex Hospital (Hampton, Va.) — Five stars
Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle) — Five stars
The CMS star ratings for Leapfrog’s spring 2025 “F” hospitals:
Berkeley Medical Center (Martinsburg, W.Va.) — One star
DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital — One star
DMC Harper University Hospital (Detroit) — One star
DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital (Detroit) — One star
Pacifica Hospital of the Valley (Sun Valley, Calif.) — One star
Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Medical Center — One star
Princeton (W.Va.) Community Hospital — One star
Rivers Health (Point Pleasant, W.Va.) — One star
Baptist Medical Central South (Montgomery) — Two stars
Columbia Memorial Hospital (Hudson) — Two stars
Delray Medical Center (Delray Beach, Fla.) — Two stars
HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital (Decatur, Ill.) — Two stars
Huntsville Hospital (Ala.) — Two stars
Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Memorial Medical Center — Two stars
West Boca Medical Center (Boca Raton) — Two stars
Central Vermont Medical Center (Berlin) — Three stars
J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital (Morgantown) — Unavailable
Madison Hospital — Unavailable
UnityPoint Health–Trinity Regional Medical Center (Fort Dodge) — Unavailable
*This hospital’s star rating only includes data reported on inpatient services.