The LeapFrog Group Hospital Ratings

The Leapfrog Hospital Survey is a national, evidence-based survey of hospital safety, quality, and efficiency. Annually over 1200 hospitals report to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey on certain aspects of care found to be of most important to consumers. Leapfrog’s survey has three overall focus areas:

1. How patients fare – Leapfrog asks hospitals to report on how patients in their hospital fare while undergoing certain surgical procedures, high-risk newborn deliveries, normal newborn deliveries, while being treated for pneumonia or a heart attack, and whether or not they have acquired an injuries or infections during their hospital stay.
2. Resources used to care for those patients – Leapfrog asks hospitals to report on their length of stay and readmission rates for certain conditions and procedures like heart bypass surgery and heart attack. Length of stay and readmissions impact the cost of a hospital stay. Resource use is part of the overall score a hospital receives for heart bypass surgery, heart angioplasty, pneumonia, and heart attacks.
3. Management practices that promote safety and quality – Leapfrog asks hospitals to report on things that their administration and leadership have adopted to promote safety and quality. For example, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, which are used so doctors can order medications electronically, have been shown to reduce medication errors by up to 85% because they contain decision-support tools designed to alert doctors to potential drug to drug interactions, allergies and other common prescribing errors.

Leapfrog uses a cell phone bar ratings system so people can see a hospital’s progress in meeting our safety and quality standards:

Progress Towards Meeting LeapFrog's Standards
Willing to Report	Some Progress	Substantial Progress	Fully Meets Standards

Methodist Healthcare 2012 LeapFrog Group Hospital Ratings

LeapFrog Standard	University	South	North	Germantown	Fayette
Prevent Medication Errors
Appropriate ICU Staffing					Does Not Apply
Steps to Avoid Harm
Managing Serious Errors
Reduce ICU Infections					Does Not Apply
Safety-Focused Scheduling					Does Not Apply
Patient Experience of Care
Heart Bypass Surgery					Does Not Apply
Heart Angioplasty					Does Not Apply
Heart Attack					Does Not Apply
Pneumonia
High-Risk Deliveries	Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply
Normal Deliveries	Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply
Weight Loss Surgery	Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply
Aortic Valve Replacement		Does Not Apply			Does Not Apply
Abdominal Aortic Aneurism Repair		Does Not Apply			Does Not Apply
Pancreatic Resection		Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply
Esophageal Resection		Does Not Apply	Does Not Apply		Does Not Apply

What These Indicators Mean & Why They're Important to You 

Prevent Medication Errors: Patients should choose a hospital that uses computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) systems to order medications, tests, and procedures. CPOE systems are computer systems designed to alert doctors and other prescribers to potentially serious problems with their instructions.

Appropriate ICU Staffing: Patients should choose a hospital with an intensive care unit (ICU) that is staffed by doctors and other caregivers who have special training in critical care medicine. These doctors are called 'intensivists'.

Steps to Avoid Harm: Patients should choose a hospital that has a high Leapfrog Safe Practices Score. This means the hospital has put in place procedures to reduce 17 common, preventable medical mistakes.

Managing Serious Errors: Patients should choose a hospital that has implemented Leapfrog's policy on managing serious events (or \"never events\") such as surgery on the wrong body part or death due to contaminated drugs or devices.

Reduce ICU Infections: Patients should choose a hospital that has a lower rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections. Hospitals are compared to the rates of hospitals for the same ICU type.

Safety-Focused Scheduling: A patient getting ready for a scheduled inpatient surgery should consider hospitals that use operations management methods  to smooth patient flow across operating rooms that service inpatients.  These operation management methods optimize the performance to meet cost, safety, and quality objectives. 

Patient Experience of Care: Patients should consider choosing a hospital where other patients have reported a positive patient experience. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey gives patients the opportunity to report on their experience in a hospital.

Heart Bypass Surgery: Patients undergoing heart bypass surgery should choose a hospital that has a high success rate for heart bypass surgery and also provides the appropriate care at a low cost.

Heart Angioplasty: Patients undergoing heart angioplasty should choose a hospital that has a high success rate for heart angioplasty and also provides the appropriate care at a low cost.

Heart Attack: Patients being treated for a heart attack should choose a hospital that follows the recommended processes of care and also provides the appropriate care at a low cost.

Pneumonia: Patients being treated for pneumonia should choose a hospital that follows the recommended processes of care and also provides the appropriate care at a low cost.

High-Risk Deliveries: Patients having a high-risk delivery should choose a hospital that follows the recommended processes of care and also has lots of experience in caring for infants born with a very-low birthweight (less than 1500 grams).

Normal Deliveries: A patient that will be delivering a baby should choose a hospital that adheres to evidence that promotes a healthy outcome for both the mother and the baby. This includes delivering the baby at the appropriate developmental age, using an appropriate delivery method, and following recommended processes of care.

Weight Loss Surgery: Patients undergoing weight-loss surgery (bariatric surgery) should choose a hospital that has lots of experience with the procedure.

Aortic Valve Replacement: Patients undergoing aortic valve replacement should choose a hospital that has a high success rate for aortic valve replacements and also has lots of experience with the procedure.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurism Repair: Patients undergoing an abdominal aortic aneurysm repair should choose a hospital that is predicted to have the best odds of having their patients survive the surgery.

Pancreatic Resection: Patients undergoing a pancreatic resection or pancreatectomy should choose a hospital that is predicted to have the best odds of having their patients survive the surgery.

Esophageal Resection: Patients undergoing an esophageal resection or esophagectomy should choose a hospital that is predicted to have the best odds of having their patients survive the surgery.