Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among our initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
On behalf of the purchasers and consumer advocates that are a part of Leapfrog, we applaud CMS for approving the groundbreaking Patient Safety Structural Measure and strongly support its inclusion in the Hospital IQR program. The new Patient Safety Structural Measure assesses whether hospitals have a structure and culture that prioritizes safety as demonstrated by the following five domains: (1) leadership commitment to eliminating preventable harm; (2) strategic planning and organizational policy; (3) culture of safety and learning health system; (4) accountability and transparency; and (5) patient and family engagement.
We commend CMS leadership for taking this bold step which will make a profound difference in hard-wiring patient safety into hospitals throughout the country. One in four people admitted to a hospital suffer some form of unintended harm, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General. Our experience demonstrates that transparency is a powerful catalyst for change. The approval of this measure is a giant leap toward improving patient safety in our country.
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