Earlier this month, for instance, another study found that hospitals scoring high for their treatment of children with asthma aren't better at preventing those kids from ending up in the emergency room with asthma attacks.
The latest results, published in the Archives of Surgery, show that hospital scores on the so-called Leapfrog Safe Practices Survey weren't linked to either death rates or hospital-associated infections. Read the full article...
The Safe Practices section is a part of the larger Leapfrog Hospital Survey. The Safe Practices were originally endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and Leapfrog has since adopted their use for measuring hospital activities related to safety.
ReplyDeleteDr. Glance, et al. used the Safe Practices to measure whether trauma patients specifically in hospitals that self-reported higher compliance with the Safe Practices had lower mortality rates and HAIs. The Safe Practices were designed to apply to all U.S. general acute care hospitals and were not designed specifically to address the care in trauma centers, which provide services to patients with complex medical conditions.
Collectively, we have much to learn about which factors directly improve outcomes.
As Dr. Glance, et al. indicate in the article the findings of the study do not mean that adherence to the NQF safety practices does not result in improved outcomes.
In addition, the modeling approach used by Dr. Glance, et al., is hierarchical in form and when this approach is used, it is very difficult to find any significant effects.
Matt Austin
Director, Leapfrog Hospital Survey
The Leapfrog Group
maustin@leapfroggroup.org