The Leapfrog Group Partners with Castlight Health to Analyze 2013 Leapfrog Hospital Survey Data

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to bring greater analysis and context to hospital performance data, gathered through its Leapfrog Hospital Survey, The Leapfrog Group (Leapfrog) will partner with Castlight Health (Castlight) on a consumer-friendly analysis of nationwide hospital performance. The move comes during a period of dramatic growth for Leapfrog, which recently reported record voluntary participation by 1,430 hospitals in its 2013 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, and is beginning the third year of its semi-annual Hospital Safety Score. Regarded as the gold standard in evaluating hospital performance, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey measures and publicly reports on national standards of safety, quality and efficiency.

As part of the partnership, Castlight will be analyzing Leapfrog's survey results, including unique data on early elective deliveries and infections. Castlight will examine the results and provide an analysis of survey data nationwide, by region and by each of 28 survey metrics. The analysis will include graphics that make it quick and easy for individuals to understand hospital performance. Leapfrog will use the resulting analysis and graphics in a new report, available to the public in spring 2014. The report will serve as an important benchmarking tool to evaluate participating hospitals on quality and safety, as well as educate the public on the overall state of hospital care in the U.S. 

"Since its inception, Leapfrog has worked to foster a culture of hospital transparency that leads patients and purchasers in America to better, safer care," says Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. "We play a vital role in the marketplace by gathering this data on behalf of hundreds of employers nationwide, who use their influence to encourage hospitals to provide this life-saving information. We're confident that our position will only be strengthened by our relationship with Castlight Health."

"Castlight is dedicated to working with leading organizations, such as The Leapfrog Group, to make health care safety and quality data easy to understand for individuals," said Jennifer Schneider, M.D., M.S., vice president of Strategic Analytics for Castlight Health. "We are honored to partner with The Leapfrog Group on this important initiative. It is exciting that our analytics work can inform a new report based on the 2013 Leapfrog Hospital Survey results – the only data of its kind that is collected and publicly reported by individual hospitals."

Launched in 2001, Leapfrog's evidence-based, safety and quality survey is free to all hospitals, and participation is voluntary. Information collected through the survey is published on Leapfrog's public reporting website, which is used by health care consumers, purchasers and researchers. The survey includes important, national measures of hospital safety and quality that are not reported elsewhere. These measures include ICU Physician Staffing to reduce mortality in intensive care units and rates of early elective newborn deliveries.

For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, including a copy of the survey, please visit www.LeapfrogHospitalSurvey.org.

About The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national, nonprofit 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, and the Hospital Safety Score (www.hospitalsafetyscore.org) publishes letter grades rating hospitals on how safe they are for patients. 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 Castlight Health
Castlight Health is a pioneer of the Enterprise Healthcare Cloud and a leading provider of cloud-based software for health care. Founded in 2008, San Francisco-based Castlight makes health care data actionable, empowering enterprise customers to gain control over their health care spending and transforming how companies and employees engage in health care. With Castlight, employers can implement technology-enabled benefit designs, integrate disparate health care applications, and provide meaningful information to employees and their families. More than 100 companies, ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 50 enterprises, have selected Castlight. For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and Like us on Facebook.

SOURCE The Leapfrog Group