By Duke Medicine News and Communications

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University Hospital was the only medical center in North Carolina and among just 67 nationally to be named by The Leapfrog Group to its annual list of Top Hospitals.

Duke was selected from nearly 1,200 hospitals that participate in the Leapfrog Group's annual survey, which measures patient safety and quality, use of resources for patient care and management structures designed to prevent errors. Leapfrog Group also designated 13 hospitals to its Top Rural Hospital list, and 12 facilities to its Top Children's Hospitals.

The honor comes a week after Duke University Hospital received an "A" grade for patient safety from Leapfrog, a non-profit that represents large employers in the health care market. Two other hospitals in the Duke University Health System - Durham Regional and Duke Raleigh – also won an "A" grade from the group for hospital safety.

"Leapfrog holds hospitals to the highest standards on behalf of our purchaser members and their employees," said Leah Binder, president and chief executive officer of The Leapfrog Group. "By achieving the Top Hospital accolade, Duke University Hospital has demonstrated exemplary performance across all areas of quality and patient safety that are analyzed on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey."

Based on the Leapfrog criteria, Duke University Hospital received top scores in five of seven measures, including preventing medical errors, maintaining appropriate intensive care staffing, taking steps to avoid harm, providing maternity care, and achieving a positive patient care experience.

Results of the survey are posted at http://www.leapfroggroup.org/cp.

About the Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.