Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota awarded coveted 2013 Leapfrog Top Children's Hospital distinction

SAINT PAUL, Minn., Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Paul campus of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has once again been named to The Leapfrog Group's annual list of Top Children's Hospitals. Children's was one of only 13 pediatric hospitals in the country to be recognized by Leapfrog and the only pediatric hospital in Minnesota. This is the fifth year in a row that Children's has been recognized, and the seventh time since 2006. The announcement came at Leapfrog's Annual Meeting on Dec. 3 in Arlington, Va., which gathered key decision-makers from Leapfrog's network of purchaser members, industry partners, health care stakeholders and national collaborators.

"Children's is extremely proud to once again be recognized as a Top Children's Hospital by the Leapfrog Group," said Alan L. Goldbloom, MD, CEO of Children's of Minnesota. "This recognition is a sign that Children's continues to lead the way in terms of the quality of the care we provide to patients and families and the efficiency with which we provide that care."

"The field of hospitals considered for this year's elite Leapfrog Top Hospital distinction was more competitive than ever. By achieving the Top Children's Hospital accolade, Children's of Minnesota 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 Children's of Minnesota," said Leah Binder, President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

As a 2013 Top Children's Hospital, Children's of Minnesota met the following standards for safe, high quality care:

• Achieve a Quality Score of 86 or better (top decile) as calculated through Leapfrog's Hospital Recognition Program
• Satisfy the Top Hospital Selection Committee that in general the hospital embodies the highest standards of excellence worthy of the Leapfrog Top Hospital designation

The results of the survey are posted on The Leapfrog Group's website, which is open to patients and families, the public, employers and other purchasers of health care.

A Model for Quality and Efficiency
As part of its effort to constantly improve care, Children's has adopted many practices that have improved quality and efficiency:

• Lean system of continuous improvement: Children's has realized millions in savings, all while cutting medication waste by 40 percent, switching to a "trigger system" that reduced medical supply replenishment time – and the time nurses need to track supplies – and greatly improved the turnaround time of its labs.
• Streamlining documentation: While patient volumes in its emergency departments have increased, triage times have declined and patient satisfaction is up. Nurses are spending less time on paper work and more time at the bedside.
• Daily Engagement System: By aligning employees around teamwork and goals, caregivers are able to operate more cohesively around each patient.
• First-of-its-kind medication management system: By wirelessly transmitting data between patients' infusion pumps and the electronic medical record (EMR), Children's is significantly reducing medication errors, particularly important in pediatrics, since doses must be carefully tailored by weight.
• Accountable Care Organization pilot program: In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Children's is aiming to reduce the total cost of care by providing coordinated, streamlined care to Minnesota's children.

Leapfrog Methodology
Children's 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 of Top Hospitals 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. 

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.

About Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Serving as Minnesota's children's hospital since 1924, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health care organizations in the United States, with 381 staffed beds at its two hospitals in St. Paul and Minneapolis. An independent, not-for-profit health care system, Children's of Minnesota provides care through more than 12,000 inpatient visits and more than 300,000 emergency room and other outpatient clinic visits every year. Children's is the only Minnesota hospital system to provide comprehensive care exclusively to children. Please visit childrensMN.org.

Media Contact:
Justin Theodotou
Direct: 612-813-6626
Cell: 952-220-0604
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SOURCE Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota