The Leapfrog Group is expanding its ambulatory surgery center (ASC) public reporting program.
That move, according to Leapfrog, will bring patient safety and quality data on nearly 4,000 ASCs into public view beginning in late July.
The nonprofit watchdog, which has long focused on transparency in hospital safety and quality, claims the redesigned initiative will combine federal quality data, accreditation-based measures and results from a revised ASC survey in an effort to give patients, employers and purchasers more visibility into outpatient surgical care.
“Ambulatory surgery centers play an increasingly important role in our nation’s health care system, and patients deserve meaningful information about the safety and quality of the care they provide,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a statement. “This expansion will be a game changer.”
The expanded program will score and report 13 quality and safety measures from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for applicable ASCs, including unplanned hospital visits after procedures, falls and wrong-site, wrong-side and wrong-procedure events.
It will also report five measures verified through accreditation by The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care or The Joint Commission, such as medication documentation, safe surgery checklist use and staff certifications.
“For the first time, patients and employers will be able to compare among thousands of ASCs,” Binder continued. “ASCs will also have a powerful opportunity to showcase their achievements for their communities.”
Additionally, Leapfrog will publicly report ASC performance on measures from its revised and shortened ASC Survey 2.0, including patient rights and ethics, never events, health equity and hand hygiene.
The survey opened April 1 and has a submission deadline of June 30, with a late deadline of Nov. 30.
“We are thrilled to see this major expansion of Leapfrog’s national ASC reporting, which will benefit not only our facilities, but the ASC industry as a whole,” Nicole Vit, chief clinical officer for Constitution Surgery Alliance and a Leapfrog ASC advisory committee member, said. “ASCs need more avenues to demonstrate and recognize the quality and efficiency of care they deliver.”
