WASHINGTON—When the Leapfrog Group unveiled its health-care quality initiatives a few years ago, most observers were dazzled.
Hopes were raised that this coalition of some 60 Fortune 500 employers could make leaps in patient safety. Now there’s a lonely voice saying the group should rethink its efforts.
It’s laudable to strive to lower morbidity and mortality, says AAFP president Warren A. Jones, MD. But the group is missing the mark, he says. Leapfroggers hope to improve safety by rewarding hospitals that have 1) computerized physician-order entry, 2) evidence-based hospital referrals, and 3) ICUs staffed by critical-care physicians.
The problem, Dr. Jones says, is that these measures are focused on inpatient care, while most care is in the outpatient setting. Also, the measures are complex and costly, when there are lower-cost, proven options (such as using beta-blockers appropriately).
Finally, there are no data on whether intensivist management improves long-term outcomes, Dr. Jones says. “We appreciate the fact that they want to improve care, but you’ve got to go where the money is,” Dr. Jones says. Leapfrog says it chose the standards not only because they can greatly reduce medical errors, but because they are easily understood by patients.—Christina Kent
© 2002 Physician’s Weekly, LLC
WASHINGTON—When the Leapfrog Group unveiled its health-care quality initiatives a few years ago, most observers were dazzled.