Striking Variation Seen in Cesarean Section Rates at California Hospitals

The Leapfrog Group Urges Purchasers and Families in California to Utilize New C-Section Data to Inform Their Choice of Birth Hospital

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The Leapfrog Group

Oct 23, 2015, 09:48 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After championing a reduction in the occurrence of early elective deliveries at hospitals, The Leapfrog Group released new information on hospital rates of cesarean sections (C-sections). California hospitals that reported C-section rates to the voluntary annual survey this year had an average Cesarean rate of 25.7 percent – failing to meet Leapfrog's standard rate (23.9 percent).

Striking variation was apparent even within individual California communities. For example:

One out of five Sacramento hospitals met the standard
One out of three San Jose hospitals met the standard
Two out of four San Diego hospitals met the standard
All four San Francisco hospitals that reported a rate met the standard, while all six Los Angeles hospitals that reported a rate did not meet the standard

These findings came from Leapfrog's annual hospital survey, for which 157 California hospitals reported a C-section rate. Endorsed by The Joint Commission, National Quality Forum (NQF), and CMS, the Nulliparous Term Singleton Vertex Cesarean Section Rate (NTSV C-Section), counts first-time pregnancies (nulliparous) that have reached the 37^th week or later mark (term) and consist of one fetus (singleton) in the head-down position (vertex). Leapfrog's panel of experts recommended an initial target rate of 23.9 percent, derived from Healthy People 2020, a national initiative designed to make significant improvements to people's health by year 2020.

To view the complete C-section data, along with a variety of links to educational resources, please visit http://www.leapfroggroup.org/c-section. Journalists interested in scheduling an interview should contact [email protected]. Available for interview are:

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group
Elliott Main, M.D., chair of Leapfrog's Maternity Care Expert Panel and medical director of Stanford's California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care.