Two Nashville area hospitals, St. Thomas and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center are among the safest and highest quality in the country according to a new ranking from the Leapfrog group.
The relatively new group is a consortium of major employers that want to encourage hospitals to implement a variety of safety and efficiency measures to reduce errors. Leapfrog says those errors are costly.
Paul Keckley directs Vanderbilt’s Center for Evidence Based Medicine. He says employers are trying to use their purchasing power to force change in the healthcare industry.
“Employers view themselves as significant purchaser whose voice is not heard by providers. So they’re trying to draw the attention of providers to the fact that an employer is not going to sit idly by and accept double digit cost increases every year and not expect more value.”
In addition to publishing its list of top hospitals, Leapfrog has also started a pilot program in New Jersey to pay hospitals for better performance.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM