Leapfrog Group's 2008 Top Hospitals Excel at Pati...( 26 Hospitals and 7 Children...),Health

26 Hospitals and 7 Children's Hospitals Earn Recognition

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-six hospitals and seven children's hospitals have been named 2008 Top Hospitals, based on results of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. The survey is the nation's premier hospital patient safety evaluation tool and provides consumers and health care purchasers with up-to-date assessments of 1,220 participating hospitals' quality and safety at its Web site, http://www.leapfroggroup.org.

The voluntary survey provides the most complete picture of hospital quality and safety available in the U.S., and asks hospitals about their performance in four crucial areas, or "leaps":

-- Do physicians enter prescriptions and other orders into computers

linked to medication error prevention software? And are those systems

tested to assure that users are warned about serious prescribing

errors?

-- How well do hospitals perform seven complex high-risk procedures* and

care for high-risk deliveries? (*Coronary artery bypass graft,

percutaneous coronary intervention, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair,

aortic valve replacement, pancreatic resection, esophagectomy,

bariatric surgery.)

-- Are hospital intensive care units (ICUs) staffed by qualified

specialists?

-- Do hospitals have safety practices and policies advocated by the

National Quality Forum to reduce harm and errors?

"Top Hospitals demonstrate an exceptional level of performance and serve as a model for other hospitals," said Binder. "However, all participating hospitals deserve praise for their willingness to raise the veil on how well they perform."

Leapfrog encourages continual improvement in hospital safety and each year raises the bar on what's required to become a Top Hospital. "Last year's Top Hospitals are all still
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