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Cincinnati Children’s Included in the Leapfrog Group Annual Top Hospitals List For Its Commitment to Transparency and High Quality Care

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is one of only 12 children’s hospitals and 81 hospitals of any kind in the United States included in The Leapfrog Group’s annual class of top hospitals.

The selection is based on the results of Leapfrog’s national survey that measures hospital performance in crucial areas of patient safety and quality. The survey focuses on three critical areas of hospital care: how patients fare, resource use, and management structures in place to prevent errors. The results of the survey are posted on a website, www.leapfroggroup.org/cp, open to patients and families, the public, employers, and other purchasers of healthcare.

The Leapfrog survey is widely considered the most complete picture available of a hospital’s quality and safety. The announcement came at Leapfrog’s annual meeting, which is focused on transparency as the key to improved hospital safety.

“The Leapfrog Top Hospital distinction is by far the most competitive award a hospital can receive,” says Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Leapfrog holds hospitals to the highest standards on behalf of our purchaser members and their employees. By achieving the top hospital accolade, Cincinnati Children’s has demonstrated exemplary performance across all areas of quality and patient safety that are analyzed on the Leapfrog hospital survey. This hospital stands out as one consistently providing safe, high quality care, and I would be comfortable sending my family to Cincinnati Children’s for care.”

Cincinnati Children’s was selected as a top hospital out of nearly 1,200 hospitals participating in the survey. Other hospitals earning this achievement include academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings.

The Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program uses standards from the Leapfrog survey to calculate an overall quality score for each children’s hospital. The quality score, which is a numerical value from 0 to 100, includes Leapfrog’s standards for using computer physician order entry to prevent medication errors, ICU physician staffing, safe practices, never events, and in some cases preventing hospital-acquired conditions such as infections. Hospitals with high quality scores have demonstrated strict adherence to Leapfrog’s safety and quality standards. The Leapfrog website provides specific details about these calculations (www.leapfroggroup.org/competitivebenchmarking).

The Leapfrog Group is a national organization using the leverage of large purchasers of healthcare to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans. More information is available at www.leapfroggroup.org.

About Cincinnati Children’s

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is third in the nation in U.S.News and World Report’s 2012 Best Children’s Hospitals ranking. It is ranked #1 for neonatology and in the top 10 for all pediatric specialties. Cincinnati Children’s is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health. It is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org