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Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Austin scored high marks for patient safety, earning A grades from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit organization that provides safety ratings. The ratings are intended to help patients choose their preferred health care destinations.

Also receiving the A grade was Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score is updated and published twice a year. The score is based on 15 measures of publicly available hospital safety data, combined with 12 self-reported survey answers to produce a single safety score. A panel of patient safety experts developed the measures for the score.

The Leapfrog Group’s survey assesses the status of many hospital practice areas, including:

• Electronic medication ordering.
• Staffing of ICUs by critical care medical professionals.
• Structures and systems to provide a culture that supports safety.
• Practices to monitor and maintain safe nursing workforce levels.
• Monitoring proper hand hygiene techniques of staff who interact with patients.
• Monitoring the use of barcode scanning of patients and medications when administering medications in the hospital.

According to a Mayo press release, the Leapfrog Group is one of many groups that recognize Mayo Clinic as a top choice for patients. Mayo Clinic is the only health care organization that consistently ranks among the top providers nationwide regardless of the quality measure used.