Clinical Excellence

December 1, 2010

16 Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Dominate ‘Leapfrog Top Hospitals’ of 2010

OAKLAND Calif. — Sixteen Kaiser Permanente hospitals — 10 in Northern California and six in Southern California — were named 2010 Leapfrog Top Hospitals, an honor that rewards medical centers for their outstanding success in such areas as infection rates, safety practices, mortality rates for common procedures and measures of efficiency.

The 16 Kaiser Permanente hospitals represent a nearly three-fold increase over the six Kaiser Permanente facilities that were named “top” hospitals in 2009. The 16 hospitals also account for nearly one out of every three urban hospitals on Leapfrog's list. Out of nearly 1,000 urban hospitals that completed the Leapfrog survey and were considered for the award, only 53 were named "top" hospitals.

Among the other non-Kaiser Permanente hospitals to receive the recognition were Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and the Mayo Clinics in Phoenix, Ariz., Jacksonville, Fla. and Rochester, Minn.

“Our prominence among Leapfrog’s top hospitals in the country showcases our commitment to high quality care and service by our physicians, nurses and clinicians,” said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence, Kaiser Permanente. “This honor also brings attention to our leadership in the field of technological innovation, especially our cutting-edge electronic health record, a tool that promotes efficiency, quality and patient safety.”

The Leapfrog Group is a voluntary reporting program that recognizes and rewards U.S. health care groups for safety, quality and customer value. The questions Leapfrog asks on its survey are consistent with measures used by The Joint Commission, National Quality Forum and Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.

To make the cut and be among the top hospitals in urban areas for 2010, the medical centers must have reported that they fulfilled the following criteria:

• Fully met Leapfrog standards for implementing computer physician order entry systems (that have been shown to reduce medication errors by up to 85 percent), and for passing Leapfrog’s test of their system
• Fully met stringent performance standards for complex, high-risk procedures (such as heart bypass surgery) done in that particular hospital
• Fully met standards for staffing the intensive care unit, shown to reduce mortality by 40 percent or more, and
• Scored in the top decile in the country for efficiency — scored by the Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program incorporating quality outcomes, length of stay, readmission rates, and incidence of hospital acquired conditions and infections. The efficiency standard applies to heart bypass surgery, heart angioplasty, heart attack and pneumonia patients.

The Leapfrog Group also recognized the top five rural hospitals and top seven children’s hospitals.

View the complete list of the 2010 Leapfrog Top Hospitals or visit The Leapfrog Group’s Website at www.leapfroggroup.org.