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Many patients will choose a healthcare provider or facility based on its publicly available ratings. Ratings from government agencies and industry groups can give patients trust that a hospital follows applicable laws, regulations, and industry best practices. Patient ratings can help other patients understand the facility’s quality of care.
Although high ratings usually translate to a successful business for hospitals, low ratings may indicate that a hospital poses a medical malpractice risk. Many factors that lead to low hospital ratings also contribute to medical malpractice incidents. Low hospital ratings and medical malpractice claims often correlate.
What Are Hospital Ratings and How Are They Determined?
Hospital ratings assess a facility’s capabilities and quality of care as determined by government regulators, industry evaluators, or patients who receive care from the facility. Organizations such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publish healthcare facility ratings based on various metrics, including implementation of best practices, readmission rates, and patient outcomes.
Rating services may determine hospital ratings by examining facilities in person, having facilities complete surveys and submit aggregated patient data, or talking to patients who have received care from the facility.
Common Factors in Low-Rated Hospitals
Some of the features or problems common to lower-rated hospitals include:
- Staff shortages
- High staff turnover
- Outdated or malfunctioning equipment
- Outdated electronic record systems
- Inadequate protocols for medication administration, infection control, or patient transfers
- High rates of hospital-acquired infections
- Poor communication between medical providers and departments
Hospital negligence and patient safety issues can also lead to lower ratings.
How Hospital Ratings Relate to Malpractice Risk
Many of the above factors, which are common among low-rated hospitals, also lead to an increased risk of malpractice by hospital staff and practitioners. For example, a hospital with inadequate staff may be more likely to make a mistake or overlook details regarding a patient’s care than an adequately staffed hospital, such as missing a patient’s medication dose or failing to monitor a patient’s vitals.
Malpractice claims can, in turn, adversely affect a hospital’s rating. Furthermore, a low rating might serve as evidence of the hospital administration’s knowledge of systemic issues that led to an incident of medical malpractice.
How a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help
When you’ve suffered injuries, illness, or medical complications due to negligent care at a poorly rated hospital, a medical malpractice lawyer can help you establish the link between hospital ratings and malpractice claims by:
- Explaining how hospital ratings impact lawsuits
- Thoroughly investigating your claim to recover relevant evidence, including the hospital’s ratings and records of malpractice incidents, to demonstrate a potential correlation
- Explaining your legal rights to recover compensation in a malpractice claim
- Working with expert witnesses who can explain how medical malpractice and hospital rankings relate
- Documenting your injuries and losses to understand what a fair financial recovery looks like
- Presenting a compelling argument at the negotiating table or in court to pursue the relief you need and deserve through a settlement or trial verdict
The legal team at the Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson understands hospital rankings and patient outcomes. We can gather the evidence you need to demonstrate systemic issues and legal liability.
Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney Today
Has a hospital with a low rating harmed you? If so, contact the Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson today for a free, no-obligation consultation to learn about your potential right to compensation from an experienced medical malpractice team.
