Recognized Leader in Caring for People Living with Diabetes is the first-ever national recognition program that will recognize hospitals providing safe and high-quality care for patients living with diabetes. The new recognition program will help patients and families identify those health care organizations that have demonstrated the strongest commitment to the care and safety of patients with diabetes. The program combines the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) breadth of resources and reach among the diabetes community with Leapfrog’s expertise in measurement, public reporting, and engaging purchasers and the public to use ratings to incentivize excellence. 

Of the 37 million people in the U.S. who are living with diabetes, 8 million are admitted to the hospital each year with related complications. Like all patients, people living with diabetes face serious risk of harm—or even death—from preventable medical errors. These patient safety breakdowns are all too common: One in four inpatients are harmed during their stay, and an estimated 250,000 people die from a preventable error annually, making patient safety problems a leading cause of death in the U.S. Inequity makes those risks even greater for some patients. Black and Indigenous people with diabetes are twice as likely as white people with diabetes to undergo amputation.

Diabetes compounds the risk all inpatients already face from medical errors, injuries, and infections that are all too common in hospitals. Studies estimate that more than 200,000 people die every year from preventable harm in hospitals, making patient safety breakdowns a leading cause of death in America. There are many programs in place nationally to advance patient safety in hospitals, but there are few, if any, that target patients living with diabetes during a hospitalization.

 Recognized Leader in Caring for People Living with Diabetes will:

• measure adherence to national, evidence-based diabetes care guidelines for hospitals
• publicly recognize hospitals adhering to the guidelines
• educate patients and their families about which hospitals can provide them with the best diabetes care, regardless of their reason for being in the hospital.

Adult and general acute care and specialty hospitals that care for adult inpatients and have submitted a Leapfrog Hospital Survey are eligible to apply for the designation. A badge will be given to only the top performers and displayed on Leapfrog’s public reporting website, ratings.leapfroggroup.org. Hospitals that do not meet the criteria will not be identified. The next Application Cycle will open on July 1, 2024.

See the first cycle of winners here

To learn more about the partnership, see the joint press announcement here.