5 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7
T
he Leapfrog
Hospital Safety
Grade assigns
letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient
safety. Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago was so upset
that its patient safety grade was going to drop from an A to a C that it
sued the ratings group for defamation, alleging that Leapfrog used
inaccurate information when lowering the hospital's score.
Saint Anthony confronted Leapfrog when it learned of the impend-
ing C grade in the fall ratings. Leapfrog said the hospital lost points
because it only electronically prescribed medications between 50%
and 74% of the time. Saint Anthony disagreed, alleging that it uses
electronic prescribing at least 95% of the time and that it provided cor-
roborating data to Leapfrog. (Electronic prescribing accounts for
about 14% of a hospital's final rating, according to the complaint.)
The hospital says the drop in grade would damage its reputation.
"Saint Anthony competes with other hospitals in the immediate area,
including one down the street," says the complaint. "One of the most
important ways Saint Anthony recently has been able to distinguish
itself is the high safety grades it receives from Leapfrog."
The
Ratings
Game
How to score high in health rating
systems — and how to defend
yourself when you don't score well.
Anna Merriman | Associate Editor
Brielle Gregory | Associate Editor
