Healthgrades Names Top Hospitals for Safety
Healthgrades released its 2026 list of top hospitals for patient safety, highlighting institutions likely to invest in high-standard accessibility services.
The Healthgrades 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award recognizes 438 hospitals across 40 states for superior performance in preventing serious safety events during patient stays. These hospitals represent the top 10% in the nation for patient safety. Hospitals receiving this award demonstrated significantly lower instances of in-hospital falls resulting in fracture, collapsed lungs, catheter-related bloodstream infections, and pressure sores. Specifically, patients in these facilities were up to 71.9% less likely to experience pressure sores. The awards are based on an analysis of Medicare inpatient data, evaluating clinical performance across 13 Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). To be eligible, hospitals must meet specific clinical quality thresholds, have no instances of foreign objects left during surgery, and report data on at least seven of eight core PSIs. If all U.S. hospitals performed at the level of these award winners, about 100,819 patient safety events could have been avoided between 2022 and 2024. Texas had the most recognized facilities with 62 hospitals receiving the award.
