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A Drug Diverter Comes Clean - Outpatient Surgery Magazine - December 2017

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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5 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 T he Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety. Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago was so upset that its patient safety grade was going to drop from an A to a C that it sued the ratings group for defamation, alleging that Leapfrog used inaccurate information when lowering the hospital's score. Saint Anthony confronted Leapfrog when it learned of the impend- ing C grade in the fall ratings. Leapfrog said the hospital lost points because it only electronically prescribed medications between 50% and 74% of the time. Saint Anthony disagreed, alleging that it uses electronic prescribing at least 95% of the time and that it provided cor- roborating data to Leapfrog. (Electronic prescribing accounts for about 14% of a hospital's final rating, according to the complaint.) The hospital says the drop in grade would damage its reputation. "Saint Anthony competes with other hospitals in the immediate area, including one down the street," says the complaint. "One of the most important ways Saint Anthony recently has been able to distinguish itself is the high safety grades it receives from Leapfrog." The Ratings Game How to score high in health rating systems — and how to defend yourself when you don't score well. Anna Merriman | Associate Editor Brielle Gregory | Associate Editor

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