The Leapfrog Group has released it’s 2009 Leapfrog Top Hospitals, based on results from The Leapfrog Hospital Survey. The survey (found at www.leapfroggroup.org) facilitates nationalcomparison of hospitals on key issues including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices, and measures of efficiency.
New this year, Leapfrog recognizes a new category: Top Rural Hospitals.
In 2009, Top Hospitals in urban settings fulfill the following criteria:
• Fully meet Leapfrog standards for implementing computer physician order entry (CPOE) systems (that have been shown to reduce medication errors by up to 85%), and for passing Leapfrog’s test of their system;
• Fully meet stringent performance standards for complex, high-risk procedures (such as heart bypass surgery) done in that particular hospital;
• Fully meet standards for staffing the ICU, shown to reduce mortality by 40% or more;
• Score in the top decile in the country for efficiency – scored by the Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program incorporating quality outcomes, length of stay, readmission rates, and incidence of hospital acquired conditions and infections. The efficiency standard applies to heart bypass surgery, heart angioplasty, heart attack and pneumonia patients.