Thank you for supporting our campaign in June opposing the CMS plan to suppress public reporting on PSI 90, a composite of ten serious preventable errors that kill 25,000 hospitalized patients each year. Leapfrog is pleased to announce that the outcome is better than we could have hoped. In the final rule issued yesterday, CMS announced that they no longer plan to suppress reporting of PSI 90. What’s more, they offer powerful support for transparency and suggest we will not see proposals for data suppression in the future. The agency explained that they found an alternative way to calculate PSI-90 without the confounding influence of Covid-19.
The leadership of CMS have long championed transparency and put patient safety at the top of the national agenda—which is why the proposed rule was so disappointing to us. CMS faces political realities that make transparency more difficult than it should be. Your voices last month helped change that political reality. With this final rule those CMS leaders stood true to their values and pledged to work for the benefit of patients and the public.
A full summary analysis of the Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule and how it pertains to our submitted comments on PSI 90 and other areas can be found here
Media Statement
The Leapfrog Group applauds CMS for finding a way to continue the public reporting of some of the most dangerous medical and surgical complications that happen in hospitals, known as CMS PSI 90. In their discussion of the final rule, we were gratified to hear CMS reinforce their longstanding commitment to transparency and patient safety. We thank CMS for their leadership—for listening to and championing patients and families, patient safety advocates, employers, purchasers, clinicians, and all Americans who are deeply concerned about patient safety.
See Leapfrog's final letters
View the letters:
Submitted letters
Media Coverage
- Stat News: Medicare reverses course on plan to hide hospital safety data next year
- MedPage Today: Hospitals Will Still Have to Share Safety Data Publicly
- Fierce Healthcare: Patient safety advocate cheers CMS' reversal on quality reporting, but hospitals say the data are no good
- Chief Healthcare Executive: Feds will report patient safety data, but hospitals won’t face penalties
- Patient Engagement HIT: CMS Preserves Patient Safety Data Reporting in IPPS Final Rule
- Philadelphia Inquirer: After outcry from patient advocates, feds decide to publish hospital safety data after all
- Becker's Hospital Review: CMS will continue to report patient safety data
- USA Today: Groups object to Medicare push to suppress reporting of harm done to patients at hospitals
- Fortune: Hospitals have become less safe during the pandemic. So why does the government want to suppress hospital safety data?
- Kaiser Health News: Feds Want a Policy That Advocates Say Would Let Hospitals Off the Hook for Covid-Era Lapses
- Modern Healthcare: 5 ways CMS' proposed hospital rule could affect patient safety and quality
- Philadelphia Inquirer: The feds want to hide hospital safety scores during COVID, making it harder to evaluate yours
- Healthcare Dive: Leapfrog raises concerns about CMS proposal to suppress patient safety data
- MedPage Today: CMS Proposal to Suppress Hospital Safety Data Angers Advocates
- Forbes: Hospital Errors Worsened During The Pandemic, Say Federal Officials. Now They Want To Suppress The Data.
- Becker's Hospital Review: Leapfrog to CMS: Don't suppress hospital safety data
- Healthcare Finance: Leapfrog urges CMS not to suppress hospital safety data
- Axios: CMS seeks to suppress hospital safety data
- The Hill: Hospital complications kill thousands per year – CMS shouldn’t hide that data
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