New Report from The Leapfrog Group Shows Record Number of Hospitals Commit to Transparency, but Some Still Struggle to Provide Consistently Safe, High-Quality Care

The Results, As Analyzed by Castlight Health, Show One in Five Hospitals Won't Commit to a Never Events Policy

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Jul 09, 2015, 08:47 ET

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last year, just over 1,500 U.S. hospitals voluntarily completed the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the highest recorded participation to date. While hospitals are demonstrating an increased commitment to transparency, a new report released today by nonprofit hospital watchdog The Leapfrog Group calls for more hospitals to report to the survey. The results, as analyzed by Castlight Health, revealed several areas of needed improvement.

Key findings from this report include:

Never events policy compliance remains low. The rate of hospitals meeting Leapfrog's standard has remained at 79 percent from 2012 to 2014, meaning one in five hospitals won't commit to a never events policy.
Rates of certain hospital-acquired conditions remain a problem. One in six Leapfrog reporting hospitals have higher infection rates than expected for central line infections (CLABSIs) and one in ten perform poorly in preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs).
Hospitals are struggling to comply with safe practices. Urban hospitals continue to outperform rural hospitals: about 20% more urban hospitals met Leapfrog's standard for safe practices and showed greater year-over-year improvement.
More hospitals with intensive care units are complying with Leapfrog's ICU Physician Staffing standard. Studies show that meeting the standard can reduce ICU mortality by 40%.

Today's report is the last in a series of six reports examining key quality and safety measures at hospitals nationwide, based on data taken from the 2014 Leapfrog Hospital Survey of 1,501 U.S. hospitals and analyzed by Castlight Health. To view the complete report and other Leapfrog reports, visit: http://www.leapfroggroup.org/HospitalSurveyReport. Data also is searchable by region and by hospital on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey results page.

About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care.

About Castlight Health
Castlight Health, Inc. is a leader in enterprise healthcare management. For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and Like us on Facebook.