The Leapfrog Group Names 2018 Top Hospitals

By John Commins

Florida, California, New Jersey and Texas had strong showings in The Leapfrog Group’s 2018 Top Hospitals awards, with 13 or more hospitals in each of those three states earning the distinction.

Of the 118 Top Hospitals recognized in 23 states and the District of Columbia, 13 were children’s hospitals, 35 were general hospitals, 53 were teaching hospitals and 17 were rural hospitals.

“We’re encouraged by the hard work of Top Hospitals, as well as all of the hospitals that compete for this award said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Their transparency and determination delivers the best possible care in their communities.”

The five states with the most Top Hospitals are: Florida (18); California (17); Texas (13); New Jersey (12); and Pennsylvania (8). Only one hospital in New York made the list.

The award is based on several quality metrics, including; preventing infections, reducing C-sections, use of technology to ensure safer care, and leadership policies and practices.

In addition, The Leapfrog Hospital Survey compares hospitals’ performance on national standards of patient safety, quality, efficiency and management structures that prevent errors, which nonprofit The Leapfrog Group says provides a comprehensive picture of how patients fare at individual hospitals.

Leapfrog’s Top Hospitals are not listed by rank, unlike other popular hospital rankings such as U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings. In fact, top hospitals on one list are often not found on the other, owing largely to the use of different metrics.

The Leapfrog Group’s bi-annual 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades issued in April found that hospitals are reducing avoidable deaths from errors and infections.