Cincinnati Children’s Named One of Nation’s Top Hospitals for Safety, Quality and Efficiency

Monday, January 01, 0001

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is one of eight pediatric institutions and 45 hospitals of any kind in the nation named one of the Top Hospitals, based on results of the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.

The survey of 1,206 hospitals is the only public, national comparison of hospitals on issues such as mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices and measures of efficiency.

“This year’s class of Top Hospitals not only hits the mark in areas such as medication error prevention and preventing ICU deaths, but they also use their resources wisely, providing excellent and efficient outcomes for patients,” said Leah Binder, CEO, The Leapfrog Group. “Regardless of what happens to healthcare reform, these hospitals are the future.”

Top pediatric hospitals make the list by having a quality score of 95 or better as defined by the Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program. Eight children’s hospitals out of 41 surveyed were ranked as a top hospital. Cincinnati Children’s score was 99.7; the national average of all hospitals was 72.4.

“This recognition speaks to the rigor of the quality and safety work we’ve been doing here at Cincinnati Children’s,” says Uma Kotagal, MD, senior vice president, Quality & Transformation. “While improving quality and safety is a continuous journey, we can be proud of what we’ve done thus far.”

The Leapfrog Group was launched in 2000 to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans. This is the first year that efficiency has been added to the top hospitals criteria. This is also the first year that the Leapfrog Group has included a category of top rural hospitals.

The Leapfrog Group was founded by the Business Roundtable and is supported by its members, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other sources.

More information about the Leapfrog Group and the survey can be found at www.leapfroggroup.org.

About Cincinnati Children’s

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is one of 10 children’s hospitals in the United States to make the Honor Roll in U.S. News and World Reports 2009-10 Americas Best Children’s Hospitals issue. It is #1 ranked for digestive disorders and is also highly ranked for its expertise in respiratory diseases, cancer, neonatal care, heart care, neurosurgery, diabetes, orthopedics, kidney disorders and urology. One of the three largest children’s hospitals in the U.S., Cincinnati Children’s is affiliated with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health.

President Barack Obama in June 2009 cited Cincinnati Children’s as an island of excellence in health care. For its achievements in transforming health care, Cincinnati Children’s is one of six U.S. hospitals since 2002 to be awarded the American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for leadership and innovation in quality, safety and commitment to patient care. The hospital is a national and international referral center for complex cases. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.