Spring 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades: 8 Michigan hospitals earn ‘Straight A’ designation

In Leapfrog’s Spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grades,* eight Michigan hospitals were among 346 hospitals nationwide that not only achieved an “A” for spring 2025 but have sustained the grade for five or more grading rounds, designating them “Straight A” hospitals. This is the first time Leapfrog has recognized “Straight A” hospitals, which represents 12% of all eligible hospitals.

To receive a Straight A designation, a hospital must achieve an A grade for five grading rounds or more. In spring 2025, a hospital must have sustained an A since spring 2023 or longer to qualify.

“It’s very gratifying to see Michigan hospitals recognized with Leapfrog’s ‘Straight A’ designation,” said James Grant, M.D, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “As we continue to work with hospitals to provide people in Michigan with quality care, we look forward to more hospitals earning the Straight A designation.”

Leapfrog is an independent, national nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by the nation’s leading employers and private health care experts. Its focus is on measuring and publicly reporting hospital performance through the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.

With the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, which was launched in 2012, grades A through F are assigned to nearly 3,000 general acute-care hospitals across the nation twice annually (fall and spring), representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors. Hospitals self-report a portion of the data and Leapfrog gathers publicly available data, but not all hospitals participate in self-reporting.

How Michigan hospitals fared

The following are the spring 2025 grades for Michigan hospitals.

• A — 24 hospitals
• B — 24 hospitals
• C — 29 hospitals
• D —1 hospital
• F — 3 hospitals

Blue Cross rewards good grades

For Michigan hospitals that participate in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Pay-for- Performance program, a good grade in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades can mean some extra incentive money.

Blue Cross encourages both patient safety and quality care through value-based contracting and its Pay-for-Performance programs. With its Pay-for-Performance programs, Blue Cross rewards hospitals for improving quality, cost efficiency and population health. These programs recognize both mid-to-large and small rural short-term acute care hospitals with a focus on patient safety as well as quality improvements.

Through value-based contracting, hospitals work with physicians to provide cost-efficient care for a shared patient population, and earn rewards based on improved outcomes across that population.

Blue Cross also provides hospitals with resources to improve patient safety, including quarterly reports.

How grades are assigned

Leapfrog uses national performance measures from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and other supplemental data sources to produce a single letter grade. The public can access the data on the Leapfrog website to find hospitals that meet their needs.

*Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan doesn’t own or control this website.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.