The Leapfrog Group has recognized 65 hospitals as top performers for 2011, based on quality and safety data gathered in its yearly hospital survey. This year's total list of honorees tied last year's record number, according to a news release from the Washington-based quality-improvement organization, formed by large employers.

First launched a decade ago, the nine-section survey uses standardized measures to gauge provider performance in a number of areas, including staffing levels, hand hygiene, pneumonia care, patient experience and use of computerized physician-order entry.

“Employers and other large healthcare benefits purchasers look to the Leapfrog Group to identify high-performing hospitals,” Keith Reissaus, Leapfrog board chair and vice president of Indianapolis-based Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, said in the release. “Leapfrog's members and supporters believe that the challenges for American healthcare go far beyond just keeping costs down. It's about making certain that patients get the right care at the right time; that value is an equal part of the equation.”

This year's winners include academic medical centers, children's hospitals and smaller community facilities, Leapfrog said.