Huntsville Hospital: Leapfrog survey not ‘accurate measure of patient safety’

Huntsville Hospital officials responded to a survey critical of its patient safety practices, calling it an “affront” to dedicated caregivers and first responders.

The survey by Leapfrog gave Huntsville Hospital an “F” for patient safety and medical issues. Twice a year, the Leapfrog Group releases grades on nearly 3,000 general acute-care hospitals nationwide.

The overall grade is based on scores across 32 categories, with possible grades of A, B, C, D, or F. The latest scorecard only focused on preventing medical errors and patient harm.

“The Leapfrog survey is not an accurate measure of patient safety at Huntsville Hospital,” the hospital said in a release. “The hospital did not complete this voluntary 353-page survey, yet Leapfrog chose to publish a rating with incomplete information.

“While we would rather have these staff members taking care of patients, and we recognize that Leapfrog may not be the best indicator of hospital quality, allowing an organization to suggest we do not prioritize patient safety is an affront to dedicated care givers and first responders working around the clock to make Huntsville a better place to live.”

According to its website, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey uses national performance measures to evaluate individual hospitals on safety, quality, and efficiency. Data and findings from the Survey provide consumers with potentially life-saving information on hospital quality.

The measures included on the Hospital Survey are predicated on the latest science and are selected with guidance from scientific advisors at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety at Johns Hopkins Medicine, as well as Leapfrog’s volunteer expert panels.

“This process is unfair to the thousands of dedicated clinicians working around the clock to care for the community and respond to emergencies anytime they are called,” the hospital said.

Huntsville Hospital is consistently ranked by US News as the second-best hospital in Alabama (https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/al). The hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission, the gold standard for hospital quality and safety, holding hospitals accountable for over 250 standards measured in person by a seven-person survey team. Forbes considers HH one of the best employers in Alabama, and Newsweek named HH one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women.

The hospital said its cardiac surgery programs were recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 best programs seven years in a row. HH is a certified stroke center and accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield recognizes HH for distinction in cardiac care, spine surgery, bariatric surgery, and maternity care,” the statement said. “Every employee and physician in the HH Health System completes mandatory training in patient safety and high reliability. HH excels in most quality ratings and scores poorly in a Leapfrog survey that it does not complete.

“Huntsville Hospital takes care of the sickest patients in north Alabama and southern Tennessee. Mortality ratings referenced in the Leapfrog survey fail to account for the severity of illness managed by hospitals that accept transfers of patients needing the highest level of care. To ensure we are providing these patients the best possible care, Huntsville Hospital dedicates significant resources to specialty-specific clinical databases including the Society of Thoracic Surgery, American College of Cardiology NCDR Registry, Vermont Oxford neonatology database, National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, National Trauma database, and Cancer Registry.”

The hospital’s statement concluded, “The perception of this matter is not lost on us. Going forward, Huntsville Hospital and Madison Hospital will add the significant resources that are required to complete a survey of Leapfrog’s scope.”

Courtesy of 256 Today