Leapfrog Patient Safety Standards
The Leapfrog Group is a consortium of public and private health care payers, providers and purchasers that rates hospital performance based on quality and safety practices that are proven to reduce preventable medical mistakes and are endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF). Since 2001, hospitals have voluntarily submitted data on their own performance which helps both consumers and employers make more informed decisions about their health care.
The Leapfrog Standards (4 Leaps)
CPOE – Hospitals meeting this standard require their staff to use computers to order medications, tests and procedures. This is called a Computerized Physician Order Entry system (CPOE).
ICU Staffing – Hospitals meeting this standard have an intensive care unit (ICU) that is staffed by doctors and other caregivers who have special training in critical care. These are doctors are called ‘intensivists’.
High Risk Treatments – Hospitals meeting this standard have extensive experience and the best results for specific procedures, surgeries or conditions. This is known as Evidence Based Hospital Referral (for high risk procedures).
Safe Practices Score – Hospitals meeting this standard have a high Leapfrog Safe Practices Score. This means they have put in place 27 procedures to reduce preventable medical mistakes.
Our Leapfrog Performance
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has consistently been rated as one of the better performers in the country. In 2007, for the third year in a row, BWH was named to the Leapfrog Group’s list of "Top Hospitals" for making significant strides in quality and patient safety. The list includes only 33 adult hospitals nationwide.
Click here to see a chart showing the Leapfrog performance of BWH among the U.S. News and World Report's Top 10 Hospitals (2007).
More Information
To learn learn more about the survey, or to see the scores of other hosptials, we encourage you to visit the Leapfrog Group website at www.leapfroggroup.org/cp.
Send Feedback to: 
