Leapfrog Hospital Survey Ranks Children's Hospital Of Pittsburgh Of UPMC One Of Top Hospitals In Nation

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Public Health;  IT / Internet / E-mail;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 04 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC is one of only seven children's hospitals in the nation to have been selected as a 2008 Top Hospital by a national organization that evaluates patient safety at more than 1,220 participating hospitals.

Children's Hospital's recognition was based on the results of the 2008 , which is the nation's premier hospital patient safety evaluatioLeapfrog Hospital Surveyn tool. Thirty-three hospitals, including seven children's hospitals and 26 hospitals participating in the voluntary survey were named Top Hospitals by the Leapfrog Group. The Top Hospitals:

• Fully met Leapfrog standards for implementing computer physician order entry (CPOE) systems that help prevent medication errors, and have also carefully tested their CPOE systems with Leapfrog's CPOE Evaluation Tool
  
  
• Fully met stringent performance standards for at least one of the complex, high-risk procedures (such as heart surgery) done in that particular hospital
  
  
• Fully met the Intensive Care Unit staffing standard
  
  
• Fully met or demonstrated "substantial progress" on 13 additional nationally recognized safety practices, such as preventing pneumonia or bloodstream infections.

"Families place an amazing amount of trust in us when they bring their children here for care, and because of that, Children's Hospital's highest priority has always been and always will be the safety and well-being of our patients," said Christopher A. Gessner, president, Children's Hospital. "This recognition is a testament to the tremendous dedication of our nurses, physicians, employees and staff to upholding that trust and working hard to provide a safe environment."

The voluntary survey evaluates hospitals about their performance in four crucial areas:

• Do physicians enter prescriptions and other orders into computers linked to medication error prevention software? And are those systems tested to assure that users are warned about serious prescribing errors?
  
  
• How well do hospitals perform seven complex high-risk procedures and care for high-risk deliveries? The high-risk procedures are coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary intervention, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve replacement, pancreatic resection, esophagectomy and bariatic surgery.
  
  
• Are hospital intensive care units staffed by qualified specialists?
  
  
• Do hospitals have safety practices and policies advocated by the National Quality Forum to reduce harm and errors?

"Children's Hospital has been at the forefront of efforts by health care institutions to improve patient safety. In 2002, we became the first children's hospital in the country to adopt a CPOE system, and when we move to the new Children's Hospital in 2009, our order entry and inpatient and ambulatory medical records will be completely paperless," said Steven G. Docimo, vice president, Medical Affairs. "Our new hospital will further enable us to enhance patient safety by measures such as offering private inpatient rooms, which reduces the risk of infection. We're proud of the fact that the dedication of our physicians, nurses and staff to patient safety has been recognized by Leapfrog."

A study published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Quality and Patient Safety found that hospitals that perform well on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey have lower mortality and better quality of care than those that either didn't perform as well on the survey or that chose not to complete it.

"Top Hospitals demonstrate an exceptional level of performance and serve as models for other hospitals," said Leah Binder, CEO, The Leapfrog Group. "However, all participating hospitals deserve praise for their willingness to raise the veil on how well they perform."

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About Children's Hospital

Renowned for its outstanding clinical services, research programs and medical education, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has helped establish the standards of excellence in pediatric care. From Ambulatory Care to Transplantation and Cardiac Care, talented and committed pediatric experts care for infants, children and adolescents who make more than 500,000 visits to Children's and its many neighborhood locations each year.

Children's also has been named consistently to several elite lists of pediatric health care facilities, including ranking eighth among children's hospitals (FY 2006) in funding provided by the National Institutes of Health, and is named one of the top 10 best pediatric hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information about Leapfrog's 2008 Top Hospital list, please visit http://www.leapfroggroup.org. For more information about Children's Hospital, please visit http://www.chp.edu/.

Source: Marc Lukasiak
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

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