Cleveland Clinic, health systems stop infection reporting to Leapfrog with CMS database

With federal reporting available, some of the nation's top healthcare systems are forgoing reporting to an premier industry quality group. In a controversial turn in patient safety reporting, Cleveland Clinic, along with Henry Ford in Detroit and Parkview Health in Indiana, have stopped reporting hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates to The Leapfrog Group, which examines national hospital standards of safety, quality, and efficiency, reported Consumer Reports yesterday.

Instead of reporting to Leapfrog, Cleveland Clinic will focus reporting efforts on government-run databases, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) database, although those data are not public yet. "We are committed to safe, high-quality outcomes and transparency," said Eileen Sheil, Cleveland Clinic executive director of corporate communications, in the article.

Previous data showed that Cleveland Clinic ranked poorly in bloodstream infections with a 41 percent worse rate compared to the national average.

However, even better performing health systems such as Henry Ford, which received an above average rating, said the move away from Leapfrog is to avoid redundant efforts. Parkview Health received an average rating in bloodstream infections.

"It's a simple resource issue," said Dr. William Conway, senior vice president and chief quality officer at Henry Ford. "Since we now have an increasing volume of reporting to CMS, I can't afford duplicate reporting."

Leapfrog noted that its measures differ from the data submitted to CMS. Leapfrog's CEO Leah Binder said, "We don't believe transparency is optional. We do believe that the variation in rates of these types of infections is significant and points to the need for increased, not decreased attention, from hospitals, and also from consumers."

Meanwhile, a recent Commonwealth Fund study found that reporting quality measurement improved care in every measure for diabetic patients and correlated with physicians abiding by guidelines.

For more information:
- read the Consumer Reports article
- read the Med City News article
- see the blood infection ratings
- check out the hospital ratings

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*This article was updated on 10/27 with additional information.