Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital Awarded Coveted 2013 Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital Distinction

December 4, 2013

Recognized with Honor for Safety and Quality

The Leapfrog Group named Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital in Lakeview, Michigan to its annual list of Top Hospitals. The announcement came at Leapfrog’s Annual Meeting on December 3rd in Arlington, Virginia, which gathered key decision-makers from Leapfrog’s network of purchaser members, industry partners, health care stakeholders and national collaborators.

“We are proud of the efforts of our providers and employees who have contributed to our hospital achieving this designation,” said Tina Freese-Decker, president, Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital. “We appreciate their hard work and commitment to quality, safety and excellent patient care.”

“The field of hospitals’ considered for this year’s elite Leapfrog Top Hospital distinction was more competitive than ever. By achieving the Top Hospital accolade, Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital has demonstrated exemplary performance across all areas of quality and patient safety that are analyzed on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. If my family or friends needed care, I’d be comfortable sending them to Kelsey Hospital,” said Leah Binder, President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

Kelsey Hospital was selected as a Top Hospital out of a record number of 1,324 hospitals participating in The Leapfrog Group’s annual survey. The list includes 22 Top Rural Hospitals, 55 Top Urban Hospitals and 13 Top Children’s Hospitals. Hospitals reaching this achievement include academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings. The selection is based on the results of the Leapfrog Group’s annual hospital survey, which measures hospitals’ performance on patient safety and quality, focusing on three critical areas of hospital care: how patients fare, resource use, and management structures in place to prevent errors. The results of the survey are posted on a website (http://www.leapfroggroup.org/cp) open to patients and families, the public, employers and other purchasers of health care.

As a 2013 Rural Hospital Top Hospital, Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital met the following standards for safe, high quality care:

A rural hospital must achieve a Value Score of 79 or better as calculated through Leapfrog’s Hospital Recognition Program. The Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program uses each standard from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey to calculate an overall value score for each hospital. The value score, which is a numerical value from 0 to 100, is a combination of quality and resource use, with quality weighted more heavily in the calculation. Hospitals with high efficiency scores have demonstrated both high quality and appropriate resource use. The Leapfrog website provides specific details about these calculations (www.leapfroggroup.org/competitivebenchmarking).
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. The Hospital Safety Score grades hospitals on how safe they are for patients

Hospitals must satisfy the Top Hospital Selection Committee that in general the hospital embodies the highest standards of excellence worthy of the Leapfrog Top Hospital designation

About 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, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 11 hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 173 ambulatory and service sites; 960 advanced practice providers and employed physicians including members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart physician groups; and Priority Health, a health plan. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 20,800 employees. The organization provided $250 million in community benefit during its 2013 fiscal year. spectrumhealth.org