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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 17 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.

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 2009 Leapfrog Hospital Survey from over 1,200 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.

Gainsharing Demonstration
Leapfrog, in conjunction with the New York Business Group on Health, has recently begun planning an exciting gainsharing demonstration project with Health Quest health system in Poughkeepsie, New York. The project will reward clinical teams for achieving certain “gains” in their practice. In the Leapfrog project, Health Quest providers will be rewarded for reducing the rates of certain hospital-acquired conditions.

Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) Study
Leapfrog has recently received funding for a qualitative research study that will explore the factors—people, processes, and products—that have led to a very low incidence of CLABSI in specific hospitals. The study will visit 4 hospitals that have reduced or eliminated CLABSI in their ICUs. Still in preliminary stages, there is much more to come on this promising new project!