Current Leapfrog Initiatives
Leapfrog Hospital Survey
The Leapfrog Hospital Survey, our hallmark public reporting initiative, was launched in 2001 and is now in its fifth version. The Survey assesses hospital performance based on four quality and safety “leaps” that are proven to reduce preventable medical mistakes and are endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF). The Survey is updated annually to reflect changes in reporting standards and the latest evidence base.
The Leapfrog Safe Practices Leap (comprising 8 of the 31 NQF-endorsed practices) is applicable to both urban and rural hospitals. Any hospital in the U.S. is welcome to complete the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. The survey data are publicly displayed on The Leapfrog Group Web site, which is updated monthly throughout the annual survey submission cycle. The display has been formatted and worded so it is easily accessible to consumers, the primary audience for these data.
Hospital Safety Score
In June 2012, The Leapfrog Group launched the Hospital Safety Score, a letter grade rating of how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, injuries, and errors. The Hospital Safety Score uses data collected from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, CMS, and the American Hospital Association to calculate a letter grade safety rating. Hospital Safety Scores are assigned to more than 2,600 hospitals across the nation twice annually. The Hospital Safety Score is becoming the standard measure of patient safety, cited recently in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and AARP The Magazine.
Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program (LHRP)
The Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program is a hospital pay-for-performance program designed to be licensed by health insurance plans. Health plans are constantly working to evaluate provider networks and provide value to employers and consumers. Hospital performance represents a significant area of interest for all stakeholders, and the LHRP provides health plans with a meaningful way to measure and recognize hospital performance using a national, standardized set of measures. Health plans can use the LHRP to identify areas of improvement and to compare hospital performance locally, regionally, and/or nationally. Most importantly, health plans can customize aspects of the LHRP to suit their market needs.
Leapfrog has also created hospital-specific LHRP Reports to be used by all health care stakeholders. The reports, using the LHRP methodology, illustrate how hospitals compare to regional, state, and national averages on Leapfrog’s set of 20+ national standards. The reports can be used for on-the-ground quality improvement efforts and utilize data collected from the 2012 Leapfrog Hospital Survey from over 1,100 hospitals in 44 states.
Health Plan Users Group
The Health Plan Users Group brings together Leapfrog employers who have significant business relationships with major national health plan carriers and representatives from those plans to collaborate and develop strategies to provide employers with products that will address Leapfrog’s purchasing principles.
Leapfrog members work with these health plans to develop goals and evaluation criteria, scorecards, and best practices that aim to assess each health plan’s progress toward implementation of the purchasing principles. Representatives from each plan meet privately with a group of Leapfrog employers occasionally throughout the year.