Each year, The Leapfrog Group’s research team reviews the literature and convenes expert panels to ensure the Leapfrog Hospital Survey aligns with the latest science and the public reporting needs of purchasers and consumers. Once the list of proposed changes is assembled for next year’s Survey, Leapfrog releases that list for public comment. The public comments received are then reviewed by Leapfrog’s research team and used to refine the Survey before it is finalized. The Survey is then pilot tested with a diverse group of hospitals across the country. Following the pilot test, Survey content and scoring are finalized for launch on April 1.
Leapfrog is now accepting public comments on the Proposed Changes to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey (below). This year, we are requesting that commenters pay special attention to the following:
- Section 1A: Basic Hospital Information: Proposal to add two-fact-finding questions on the use of the National Association for Healthcare Quality’s (NAHQ) Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) certification for staff.
- Section 1B: Billing Ethics: Proposal to require reporting of presumptive eligibility and financial assistance programs for patients; no scoring or public reporting.
- Section 1C: Health Care Equity: Request for information on the Office of Management and Budget standards for maintaining, collecting and presenting data on race and ethnicity.
- Section 3A: Hospital and Surgeon Volume: Proposal to add a new optional, fact-finding question to assess if the hospital has surgeons that perform both total knee and total hip replacement procedures.
- Section 4A: Maternity Care Volume and Services: Request for information on the collection of data and calculation of rates for vaginal births after cesarean section (VBACs) for inclusion in the 2027 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
- Section 5C: Nursing Workforce: Proposal to no longer publicly report Nursing Skill Mix and include a new optional, fact-finding question to assess the use of virtual nursing.
- 6A NQF Safe Practice #1 – Culture of Safety Leadership Structures and Systems: Request for information on approaches to strengthen the participation of patients and/or care partners on hospital-wide safety and quality committees.
- Section 6C: Hand Hygiene: Discussion of a request from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology’s (APIC) that Leapfrog consider changes to the Leapfrog hand hygiene standard, specifically regarding the monitoring of hand hygiene opportunities, and a request for public comment on strengthening all elements of the Hand Hygiene standard.
- Section 6D: Diagnostic Excellence: Proposal to require reporting of the Diagnostic Excellence questions and the removal of several questions to focus quality improvement efforts on the most effective practices to reduce diagnostic errors. The subsection will not be scored or publicly reported in 2026.
- Section 6E: Emergency Department (ED) Boarding: Proposal to refine the existing questions to also include reporting of the total boarding time for all ED visits with an inpatient admission or where the patient was placed in hospital observation status and clarifying that the stratification by patient age is based on the type of bed the patient is waiting to be admitted to. This subsection will remain optional and will not be scored or publicly reported in 2026.
- Section 9C: Volume of Procedures: Proposal to allow hospitals to optionally report their outpatient procedure volumes.
- Section 9F: CMS Measures: Proposal to rename Section 9F, obtain OAS CAHPS results directly from the CMS Provider Data Catalog, and reorganize the section to include CMS OP-32: Rate of Unplanned Hospital Visits After An Outpatient Colonoscopy, previously included in Section 9D.
View the Proposed Changes to the 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Survey (PDF).
Submit a Public Comment Here.
Comments will be accepted until midnight ET on December 18, 2025.