New hospital safety scores were released this week, and around the country, those that scored well are crowing (see e.g., here and here). The data is provided by a nonprofit called Leapfrog Group, which compiles survey-responses and CMS data on a website called hospitalsafetyscore.org. Check out your own hospitals. The Leapfrog Group includes several leaders in the hospital safety movement, including Peter Pronovost (of checklist fame) and Lucian Leape (author of the seminal 1994 JAMA article on the topic). Is anyone aware of an empirical study that looks at the relationship between these scores and medical malpractice liability claims or payouts? Any attorneys that use this sort of data in the litigation of individual cases?
