Hospitals Keep Improving Patient Safety in 2025

Patient safety across hospitals and health systems nationwide is improving, according to a new analysis of key safety and quality metrics from Q4 2019 to Q2 2025, released last week by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Texas-based healthcare performance improvement company Vizient.

Key findings of the report included:

• Hospitals improved patient outcomes, with patients hospitalized in Q2 2025 experiencing nearly 30 percent higher survival rates than expected, given the severity of their illnesses, compared to those in Q4 2019.
• Hospitals saved more lives by improving safety, leading to over 300,000 Americans being hospitalized from April 2024 to March 2025, surviving episodes of care they likely wouldn’t have in 2019.
• Hospitals treated more complex patients. Hospitals experienced a 4 percent increase in patient volume in Q2 2025 compared to Q4 2019, with patients presenting more severe and complex conditions.
• Hospitals lowered infection rates. In Q2 2025, central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates dropped 24 percent compared to Q4 2019. Meanwhile, catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) decreased by 25 percent during the same time.
• Hospitals greatly expanded preventive cancer screenings. Key screenings for breast and colorectal cancer increased 95 percent from Q4 2019 to Q2 2025.

The analysis was based on a previous AHA report, powered by Vizient data, as well as new data.