UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh recently received recognition as a 2022 Top Children’s Hospital from The Leapfrog Group. UPMC Children’s became the only children’s hospital in Pennsylvania – and one of only 12 in the country – to receive the distinction.
The award highlights nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality among four categories of hospitals. Those categories include general, children’s, rural, and teaching.
Leapfrog is a national, nonprofit watchdog organization. It collects, analyzes, and publishes data to promote safety and quality throughout the health care industry.
The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive. Leapfrog itself is known as the toughest safety and quality standard-setter in health care.
“Being a Leapfrog Top Children’s Hospital is an elite distinction only given to a small number of children’s hospitals, so it is a privilege to receive this award,” says Diane S. Hupp, DNP, president, UPMC Children’s. “It gives our hospital significant recognition for why so many choose UPMC Children’s as their place to work, to receive care, and to give back to.”
About the Leapfrog Hospital Survey
First launched in 2001, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the nation’s gold standard in evaluating hospital performance. This annual, voluntary survey assesses hospital performance. It uses national measures of safety, quality, and efficiency of both inpatient and outpatient care.
Only the highest-performing hospitals on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey qualify for the Leapfrog Top Hospitals distinction.
The survey measures safety and quality across a number of national hospital performance metrics. Those metrics include infection rates, practices for safer surgeries, and systems for preventing medication errors. These measures are of specific interest to health care purchasers – including employers, insurers, and consumers. They cover a broad range of hospital processes, outcomes, and structures in many clinical areas.
Data and findings from the survey provide potentially lifesaving information on hospital safety, quality, and efficiency. Leapfrog defines the rigorous standards in each year’s Top Hospital methodology, which is based on the latest science and guidance from patient safety experts.
The award does not go to a set number of hospitals each year. Rather, all hospitals that meet the high standards defined in that year’s methodology receive the award.
How UPMC Children’s Keeps Patients Safe
“The Leapfrog Group’s national recognition highlights our remarkable clinical team of devoted physicians, nurses, and staff,” Hupp says. “They have worked tirelessly to ensure every patient and family at UPMC Children’s has the safest experience and receives the highest-quality care they deserve. This honor showcases our outstanding UPMC team that works diligently to improve the safety and quality efforts we provide for our patients and their families.”
To learn about the world-class care UPMC Children’s provides throughout our communities, visit our website. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2022 Top Hospitals, visit Leapfrog’s website.