Some prominent hospitals are criticizing the method used by The Leapfrog Group, a healthcare quality organization, in its recent ratings of hospitals' patient safety performance, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Leapfrog's new Hospital Safety Score gave 2,652 general hospitals a grade of A to F based on publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections. Leapfrog scored nearly half of these hospitals as a C or lower.
Some hospitals claim Leapfrog used outdated data and penalized hospitals for not participating in Leapfrog's voluntary surveys. However, Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder said participation in Leapfrog surveys did not affect hospitals' grades, according to the report.
Keith Woeltje, director of the clinical advisory group at St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, which earned a score of C, said rankings that use self-reporting questionnaires raise concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal. Similarly, Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City said Leapfrog's methodology is not validated and is subjective and confusing to consumers, according to the report.
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Leapfrog's new Hospital Safety Score gave 2,652 general hospitals a grade of A to F based on publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections. Leapfrog scored nearly half of these hospitals as a C or lower.
Some hospitals claim Leapfrog used outdated data and penalized hospitals for not participating in Leapfrog's voluntary surveys. However, Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder said participation in Leapfrog surveys did not affect hospitals' grades, according to the report.
Keith Woeltje, director of the clinical advisory group at St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, which earned a score of C, said rankings that use self-reporting questionnaires raise concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal. Similarly, Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City said Leapfrog's methodology is not validated and is subjective and confusing to consumers, according to the report.
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Leapfrog Group Report Card Shows Nearly Half of Hospitals Graded C or Worse for QualityU.S. Hospitals Promote Equitable Care, But More Work Needed
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