Leapfrog to grade outpatient surgery, ambulatory care centers' safety

Leapfrog Group will start publishing safety and quality performance of hospital outpatient surgery departments and ambulatory care centers in 2020, the group said Tuesday.

Like its hospital safety grades, the outpatient data will be available to the public. Leapfrog will ask the centers to voluntarily submit performance data. The group has asked centers for input on which questions it should ask on the surveys.

"An ambulatory care center is attractive to many employers, purchasers and patients because you can avoid a hospital stay, the surgery can be less invasive and even the price can be lower … but it's not a good idea to go to one of these settings if the quality is not good, and that is what we want to know," said Leah Binder, CEO of the Leapfrog Group.

Leapfrog's Hospital Survey will include a new section for data from hospital outpatient surgery departments.

Ambulatory care centers will likely have to submit infection rates, medical and nursing staff information, procedure volume, outcomes data and patient experience results.

Binder said there aren't many endorsed outcome measures for these centers, but more will likely be endorsed in the future given the popularity of the centers.

Leapfrog will limit the first year of published surveys to 250 ambulatory care centers and assess the results for potential adjustments.

Binder expects the centers will be eager to participate in Leapfrog's grading system because the centers now don't have a way to show patients and employers how they perform in an unbiased way.

"A lot of employers and purchasers are interested in direct contracting with ASCs or at least offering them within network plans, but they are worried and ASCs don't have individual tools to reassure their customers that they are offering excellent care," Binder said.