Rush University Medical Center has been named among the top hospitals in the country for quality, safety and efficiency by the Leapfrog Group, a national organization that promotes health care safety and quality improvement.

Rush is one of only 34 urban hospitals, along with eight children’s hospitals and three rural hospitals, that made their Top Hospitals Award list for 2009 from among 1,206 hospitals surveyed.

“These results demonstrate that Rush is a medical center that is dedicated to the highest standards of quality and patient safety and makes it the focus of everything we do,” says Dr. Larry Goodman, Rush president and CEO.

The Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program measures and evaluates hospital performance to recognize achievements and encourage improvements in the efficiency of hospital care. The program’s latest rankings drew on information gathered through the 2009 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which compiled data reported by 1,206 hospitals in 41 states. The survey is the only national, public comparison of hospitals on key issues including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices, and measures of efficiency.

“The survey covers key aspects of the care hospitals provide, and in order to do well on it, you have to maintain high standards throughout the institution,” observes Goodman “It’s a great testament to the very skilled and dedicated staff at Rush that Leapfrog has found we’re providing excellent care for our patients.”

To be designated a Leapfrog Top Hospital this year, hospitals in urban settings needed to fulfill the following criteria:     

• Fully meet Leapfrog standards for implementing computer physician order entry systems, which have been shown to reduce medication errors by up to 85%, and for passing Leapfrog’s test of their system; 
• Fully meet stringent performance standards for complex, high-risk procedures (such as heart bypass surgery);
• Meet standards for staffing the intensive care unit with doctors and nurses specifically trained in critical care, which have been shown to reduce mortality by 40% or more;
• Score in the top ten percent in the country for efficiency. The Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program measured efficiency in terms of quality outcomes, length of stay, readmission rates, and incidence of hospital acquired conditions and infections. The efficiency standard applies to heart bypass surgery, heart angioplasty, heart attack and pneumonia patients.

Efficiency was a new category this year, an addition that reflects health benefits purchasers’ growing concern about the cost of health care. “This year’s class of Top Hospitals not only hits the mark in areas such as medication error prevention and preventing ICU deaths, but they also use their resources wisely, providing excellent and efficient outcomes for patients,” says Leah Binder, CEO, The Leapfrog Group.