BWH Receives UHC, Leapfrog Quality Awards
BWH continued to maintain top spots on prestigious lists based on the delivery of quality care. In August, BWH was named to the Leapfrog Top Hospital’s list for the third year in a row, and in October, the hospital made University HealthSystem Consortium’s top quality list.
“Both UHC and Leapfrog awards recognize quality care and safety, and they are testament to the dedication of our people to exceptional patient care,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA. “These honor all members of our community who constantly strive for excellence in health care.”
UHC Gives BWH 5-Star Rating, Crystal Award
BWH is one of only two academic medical centers in the country to be recognized as a top performing hospital for three straight years in the UHC’s annual Quality and Accountability Study. BWH gained a five-star rating from the UHC and the consortium’s prestigious crystal award.
The UHC is a national consortium of academic medical centers, and this year its Quality and Accountability Study examined 83 member institutions for safety, effectiveness, equity, efficiency and patient centeredness through the UHC’s databases. For the third year in a row, BWH ranked in the top five.
The UHC uses the Institute of Medicine’s six domains of care as a guide in structuring the performance categories for this study. The focus centers on the outcomes of care to identify associated characteristics of high-performing academic medical centers. Critical success factors first identified in the 2005 study include: a shared sense of purpose throughout the organization; leadership style; an accountability system a focus on results; and a collaborative culture.
BWH ranked first in two of six study domains: patient centeredness and equity. BWH received a composite score of 75, well above the median score of 62.5, in patient centeredness, which UHC measured through patient satisfaction data collected through Medicare’s consumer surveys. BWH received a perfect score of 100 in equity, the section in which UHC looks for statistically significant differences among gender, race and socioeconomic demographics.
Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, vice president of the Center for Clinical Excellence, said that UHC’s analysis is considered far more stringent and comprehensive than more widely reported rankings. “UHC relies 100 percent on patient-level process and outcome measures,” said Gustafson, who accepted the award on behalf of BWH.
BWH Again Makes Leapfrog Top
Hospitals Even With Tougher Criteria
Only 41 hospitals from across the country made the 2007 Leapfrog Top Hospital’s list this year as Leapfrog made the criteria of its annual Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey much more strict. That didn’t keep BWH from this prestigious list—for the third year in a row.
The Leapfrog Group, a consortium of more than 170 public and private health care payers, providers and purchasers gathers data from participating hospitals and issues rankings based on four safety and quality standards: Computerized Physician Order Entry; Intensive Care Unit Staffing; Evidence Based Hospital Referrals, and Quality Index based on the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) safe practices.
Leapfrog’s scores are based on ‘leap’ measures that come from hospitals’ answers to survey questions. Hospitals’ scores are displayed online ranging from an empty circle to a full circle.
BWH gained perfect scores in three of the four categories: CPOE, ICU staffing and safe practices. Less than 23 percent of Massachusetts hospitals and only 25 percent of all U.S. hospitals gained perfect scores on the NQF’s safe practices survey section.
The third Leap, or Evidence Based Hospital Referrals, this year is broken down into eight subcategories based on high-risk procedures, volumes and surgeon experience. The criteria make it difficult for academic medical centers to achieve perfect scores.
The Leapfrog Group is a consortium of public and private health care payers, providers and purchasers that rates hospital performance based on quality and safety practices that are proven to reduce preventable medical mistakes and are endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF). Since 2001, hospitals have voluntarily submitted data on their own performance, which helps both consumers and employers make more informed decisions about their health care.