Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa Rank 1,2, 3 in Patient Safety

Iowa hospitals and those in other upper Midwest states were ranked among the best for patient safety by Health Grades, the Colorado-based company that sells hospital information to the public and offers marketing to hospitals using its quality and patient safety data.  The study was based on 13 patient safety indicators developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and applied to the most recent MedPar file of Medicare admissions at nearly 5,000 hospitals during 2002, 2003, and 2004.  

The study resulted in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa being ranked as the top three states for overall patient safety.  South Dakota and North Dakota also landed in the top 10.  New Jersey, New York, and Nevada were at the bottom of the rankings.