Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Leapfrog survey finds 52% of hospitals adhere to 'never event' policy

Quality Improvement Monitor, September 28, 2007

Fifty-two percent of hospitals responding to a Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey indicate they have adopted the Leapfrog Never Events policy, a list of actions they pledge to take whenever a "never event" - a rare medical error that should never happen to a patient - occurs.

This year, 1,285 hospitals reported for the first time on their adherence to the Leapfrog Never Events policy. By agreeing to this policy, hospitals pledge to:

  • Apologize to the patient and/or family affected by the never event
  • Report the event to at least one of the following agencies: The Joint Commission, a state reporting program for medical errors, a Patient Safety Organization
  • Perform a root cause analysis, consistent with instructions from the chosen reporting agency
  • Waive all costs directly related to the serious reportable adverse event

    Leapfrog follows the National Quality Forum's (NQF) definition of never events. The NQF's list of 28 "serious reportable events" includes errors such as surgery performed on the wrong body part or the wrong patient, leaving a foreign object inside a patient after surgery, and discharging an infant to the wrong person, according to a press release from the organization.

    For more information, click here.

    • Most Popular