Spectrum Health Blodgett, Butterworth Named 2012 Leapfrog Top Hospitals

December 5, 2012

Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital and Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital have been named Top Urban Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The hospitals were selected out of nearly 1,200 hospitals participating in an annual survey.

To earn this distinction:

A hospital must fully meet Leapfrog’s standard for Preventing Medication Errors (CPOE)
A hospital must fully meet Leapfrog’s standard for ICU physician staffing (IPS)
A hospital must fully meet Leapfrog’s standards for high-risk surgeries and procedures
A hospital must achieve a value score of 69 or better as calculated through Leapfrog’s Hospital Recognition Program (LHRP Value Score)
Hospitals eligible for a Hospital Safety ScoreSM must receive an A on the letter grades publicly reported at the time of the Top Hospital public announcement

“This is wonderful recognition for the hard-working, dedicated people who work at Blodgett and Butterworth hospitals,” said J. Michael Kramer, MD, MBA, senior vice president and chief quality officer, Spectrum Health. “Quality health care and the safety for our patients is reflected in all we do at Spectrum Health. It is great to have our success acknowledged publicly.”

The announcement came at Leapfrog’s annual meeting this month.

“Leapfrog holds hospitals to the highest standards on behalf of our purchaser members and their employees. By achieving the Top Hospital accolade, these hospitals demonstrated exemplary performance across all areas of quality and patient safety that are analyzed on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. I would be comfortable sending my family to Spectrum Health for care,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using 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 flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a state of the art children’s hospital that opened in January 2011, and 183 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 700 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,000 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.