You may know more about the TV or DVD player you want to buy than the hospital where you are about to be admitted for surgery. That just doesn’t seem right to me!
A relatively new advocacy group is out to change the situation. The Leapfrog Group is a voluntary program aimed at mobilizing employer purchasing power to alert America’s health industry that big leaps in health care safety, quality and customer value will be recognized and rewarded. Among other initiatives, Leapfrog works with its employer members to encourage transparency and easy access to health care information as well as rewards for hospitals that have a proven record of high quality care.
The Leapfrog Mission statement is clear: Their goal is to trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality and affordability of health care by:
· Supporting informed healthcare decisions by those who use and pay for health care; and,
· Promoting high-value health care through incentives and rewards.
Check out your hospital’s Leapfrog’s quality rating here.