Montefiore Medical Center Ranked as One of Nation's Top Hospitals in a Survey Conducted by the Leapfrog Group

Montefiore Awarded for Commitment to Patient Safety, High Quality Care and Transparency

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Montefiore Medical Center was recognized yesterday as one of the nation's 2011 Top Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group, a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage dedicated to improving healthcare safety, quality and affordability. Of the 65 hospitals chosen from nearly 1200 nationwide that participated in the annual survey, Montefiore was one of only two hospitals named from New York State.  

"Montefiore is honored to be recognized as a national leader in delivering the best quality of care and highest standards of safety," said Steven M. Safyer, M.D., President and CEO of Montefiore Medical Center.  "The Leapfrog award reflects our success in implementing innovative practices focused solely on delivering the highest quality of care, having exceptional results and ensuring the best experience for our patients, their families and communities."

The Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects data from hospitals on their progress toward implementing practices in four critical areas of patient safety: the use of computer physician order entry (CPOE) to prevent medication errors; standards for doing high-risk procedures such as heart surgery; protocols and policies to reduce medical errors and other safe practices recommended by the National Quality Forum; and adequate nurse and physician staffing. In addition, hospitals are measured on their progress in preventing infections and other hospital-acquired conditions and adopting policies on the handling of serious medical errors, among other things. As a 2011 Top Hospital, Montefiore met these standards for safe, high quality care.

"Since 1996, Montefiore has been a pioneer in electronic health records, medication safety, innovative ICU staffing and safe interdisciplinary team care practices.  Our accomplishments in these areas have been instrumental in preventing errors and delivering high quality care," said Rohit Bhalla, M.D., MPH, Chief Quality Officer at Montefiore Medical Center. 

"The Leapfrog Group is pleased to recognize Montefiore's national leadership in transparency, quality, and safety," said Leah Binder, CEO, The Leapfrog Group. "Through Leapfrog's annual hospital survey, Montefiore voluntarily reports on their progress in meeting national standards of safety and quality compared to others in its region and nationally, and comes out on top. They are an inspiring example of our country's commitment to the highest quality care for all Americans."

Montefiore's ranking was announced December 6 in Washington, D.C. at Leapfrog's Annual Meeting where the group celebrated the five year anniversary of its ground breaking Never Events Policy, which describes actions hospitals pledge to take whenever a rare medical error, that should never happen to a patient, occurs. The 2011 list includes university and other teaching hospitals, children's hospitals and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings and the results of the annual survey, which launched in 2001 and is the only voluntary effort of its kind, are posted on a website open to the patients and families, the public and employers and other purchasers of health care.  It is the most complete picture available of a hospital's quality and safety.  More information is available at www.leapfroggroup.org.

About Montefiore Medical Center

As the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore is a premier academic medical center nationally renowned for its clinical excellence, scientific discovery and commitment to its community. Recognized among the top hospitals nationally and ranked sixth out of 184 in the New York metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report, Montefiore provides compassionate, patient- and family-centered care and educates the healthcare professionals of tomorrow.  The Children's Hospital at Montefiore is consistently named in U.S. News' "America's Best Children's Hospitals," and is second among those in the New York metro area. With four hospitals, 1,491 beds and 93,000 annual hospital discharges, Montefiore is an integrated health system seamlessly linked by advanced technology.  State-of-the-art primary and specialty care is provided through a network of nearly 100 locations across the region, including the largest school health program in the nation and a home health program. Montefiore's  partnership with Einstein advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. The medical center derives its inspiration for excellence from its patients and community, and continues to be on the frontlines of developing innovative approaches to care.  For more information please visit www.montefiore.org and www.montekids.org and follow us on Twitter @MontefioreNews.

SOURCE Montefiore Medical Center