CPMC Again Named Top Hospital by Leapfrog Group
California Pacific Medical Center one of only three hospitals in U.S. to win award five years in a row
San Francisco, CA, December 1, 2010 - For the fifth year in succession California Pacific Medical Center has been named to the Leapfrog Group’s annual list of top hospitals for patient safety and quality.
This year a record 65 hospitals, out of nearly 1200 surveyed, were named to the prestigious list but CPMC is one of just three hospitals nationwide to make the list five years in a row.
“Winning this five consecutive years is a tribute to every person who works at CPMC,” says Warren Browner, MD, MPH, CEO of California Pacific Medical Center. “It’s a reflection of the commitment, the skill, and the compassion of our staff in caring for our patients, and making their health and safety our top priority.”
“The 1200 hospitals that publicly report their performance via the Leapfrog Survey do so voluntarily. In a way that makes all of them top hospitals,” says Leapfrog Chief Executive Leah Binder. “It represents an enormous commitment by the institution to not only measure what they do against tough standards, but also to work for change and be transparent about it.”
The 2010 list includes university and other teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings. The selection is based on the results of the Leapfrog Group’s national survey that measures hospitals’ performance in crucial areas of patient safety and quality. The results are posted on a website open to the patients and families, the public and employers and other purchasers of health care. It is the most complete picture available of a hospital’s quality and safety. The website is www.leapfroggroup.org
The survey focuses on four critical areas of patient safety:
- Use of computer physician order entry (CPOE) to prevent medication errors
- Standards for doing high-risk procedures such as heart surgery
- Protocols and policies to reduce medical errors and other safe practices recommended by the National Quality Forum
- Adequate nurse and physician staffing
“We are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of the care we deliver and to make our hospitals ever safer,” says Browner. “One way we are doing that is by planning to build two new acute care facilities that are capable of remaining operational even after a major earthquake or other disaster. We want to be here for our community when they need us most”
“At CPMC there is no such thing as ‘good enough’, says Mickey Rokeach, MD, Medical Chief of Staff at CPMC. “That’s why every day we ask ourselves ‘how can we do even better’, because our patients, the people who trust us with their lives, deserve nothing less than the best.
California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.
At San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care, with kindness and compassion, in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That’s why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It’s why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support and wellness treatments. As one of California’s largest private, community-based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening and financial support in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods. Medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life. www.cpmc.org
The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) uses the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 by the Business Roundtable and is supported by its members, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other sources.
The Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the gold standard for comparing hospitals’ performance on the national standards of safety, quality, and efficiency that are most relevant to consumers and purchasers of care. Hospitals that participate in The Leapfrog Hospital Survey achieve hospital-wide improvements that translate into millions of lives and dollars saved. Leapfrog’s purchaser members use Survey results to inform their employees and purchasing strategies.
Contact
Kevin McCormack
(415) 600-7484
(415) 232-6463 - pager
McCormKD@sutterhealth.org