Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is the only children’s hospital in the western United States to achieve recognition
(ADVANCE) LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Once again, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been recognized as among the best hospitals in the country.
For the second consecutive year, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has earned the Top Hospital designation from The Leapfrog Group, which annually recognizes the best hospitals in the nation for providing the safest and highest quality health care services to patients. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is the only children’s hospital in the western United States to achieve the Top Hospital designation and one of only seven children’s hospitals nationally to receive this honor.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles received an overall quality score of 97 out of 100 from Leapfrog, while the average score for all hospitals evaluated by The Leapfrog Group was 56 for hospitals in California and 50 nationally.
“This recognition by The Leapfrog Group is a testament to the hard work of our Board of Trustees and our Safety, Quality and Services Committee, which oversees quality management at our hospital, as well as our many physicians, nurses and clinical staff,” said Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “We greatly appreciate the efforts of our physicians and employees who work hard every day to make Children’s Hospital one of the preeminent health care facilities in the country.”
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles also received national recognition earlier this year as one of only eight children’s hospitals in the country named to the U.S. News & World Report “Honor Roll,” which recognizes hospitals for providing high quality health care services and achieving excellent patient outcomes.
The Leapfrog Group’s annual class of top hospitals – 65 from a field of nearly 1,200 – was announced Dec. 1 in Washington, D.C., at its 10th anniversary meeting. 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 considered the most complete picture available of a hospital’s quality and safety. The website is www.leapfroggroup.org.
“Earning the Top Hospital designation is a testament to the work of everyone in the hospital – the governing body, management, physicians, caregivers, employees, and volunteers,” said Leapfrog Chief Executive Leah Binder.
In addition to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the other six children’s hospitals to receive The Leapfrog Group Top Hospitals designation include: Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; Children’s Hospital Boston; Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota – Saint Paul; Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota – Minneapolis; Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC; and Cook Children’s Medical Center in Ft. Worth, Texas.
The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded a decade ago to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. Initially organized by the Business Roundtable, it is now an independent advocacy group working with a broad range of partners, including hospitals and insurers. The annual survey is the only voluntary effort of its kind. Leapfrog officials say they plan to expand their efforts in the months ahead to work with consumer groups.
The survey, which launched in 2001, focuses on four critical areas of patient safety: the 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; and adequate nurse and physician staffing. In addition, hospitals are measured on their progress in preventing infections and other hospital-acquired conditions and adopting policies on the handling of serious medical errors, among other things.
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals serving more than 97,000 patients each year with physicians specializing in more than 100 subspecialties. Children’s Hospital is one of only eight children’s hospitals in the nation – and the only one in the western United States – named to the national “Honor Roll” of children’s hospitals in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings for clinical excellence. Children’s Hospital is preparing to open a $636 million, 317-bed state-of-the-art facility in July 2011 that will further expand services and capabilities at its main campus on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Calif., as well as increase the ability to provide family-centered care to residents throughout the region.
Children’s Hospital offers care from some of the world’s most prestigious physicians and surgeons, and is designated as a Magnet Hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, an honor held by only five percent of all hospitals nationwide. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States; is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932; is the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in L.A. County approved by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons; and is one of the largest pediatric transport programs in the nation.
(End of advance for release 12 p.m. ET December 1, 2010.)
CONTACT:
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Brian Greene, 323-361-4823
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Children Consumer
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