Naples residents should be very concerned when their hospital system wastes money on a frivolous lawsuit disputing the free speech rights of an independent nonprofit organization. NCH resources would be better spent on initiatives to improve patient safety. In the United States, over 500 people a day die from preventable medical errors, infections, and injuries, and saving those lives should be the top priority of every hospital. Every hospital should focus on putting the safety of patients first and foremost every minute of every day.
In their complaint, NCH claims they dislike Leapfrog’s peer-reviewed methodology for grading hospitals on their safety. That methodology has been reviewed and refined over seven years by the foremost national experts in patient safety. They complain about missing data, but it was the hospitals’ decision to not freely and voluntarily report this information. Leapfrog can only use the data made available to us. Our own commitment to transparency is evidenced by the highly visible and free access to our full methodology provided on our website and in correspondence with hospitals including NCH.
NCH may wish to withhold their hospitals’ grades from the community they serve, but Leapfrog intends to fully defend its First Amendment rights to publish grades for NCH hospitals. Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades for Fall 2019 will be published November 7, 2019 and freely available on our website.