Key Dates and Information

2022 SPRING/FALL HOSPITAL SAFETY GRADE METHODOLOGY CHANGES

Leapfrog is planning one update to the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade methodology that will be used to calculate the spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades and two additional changes that will begin in the fall 2022 Hospital Safety Grades. These updates come under the guidance of Leapfrog’s national expert panel and research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine and in response to stakeholder feedback. The public comment period has closed. Leapfrog will publish a Summary of Changes for the 2022 Hospital Safety Grade in January. You can review the Proposed Changes here.

Be sure to sign up for our hospital newsletter for all future announcements.

DATE	DEADLINE
August 31	FALL DATA SNAPSHOT DATE The data snapshot date is the date that Leapfrog will extract public data (i.e., download data published by CMS or submitted to Leapfrog or secondary data sources) to calculate Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. All data, including Leapfrog Hospital Survey Results, must be finalized by this date.
September 20 – October 10	FALL COURTESY REVIEW PERIOD As a courtesy to hospitals, Leapfrog will hold a Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period before the public release of each Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade update. The Review Period is an opportunity for hospitals to review the data for accuracy (i.e., identify recording errors, hospital name and address changes, etc.) on a secure website and review changes to the scoring algorithm.
September 28 at 3 PM ET	FALL 2021 SAFETY GRADE TOWN HALL CALL Hospitals and other stakeholders are invited to a free Town Hall Call to hear about changes to the measures and scoring methodology, as well as details of the Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period and important deadlines. The Town Hall Call will include a 40 minute presentation and a 20 minute Q&A session. Slides and the recording are posted below under Materials and Resources.
October 25 - November 10	FALL LETTER EMBARGO PERIOD Following the close of the Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period, Leapfrog finalizes the data and establishes letter grade cut-points. Leapfrog then refreshes the Safety Grade Review website and hospitals are able to participate in a 2-week Letter Grade Embargo Period in which they can preview their letter grade prior to the public announcement.
November 10	FALL PUBLIC ANNOUNCMENT
January 31	SPRING DATA SNAPSHOT DATE The data snapshot date is the date that Leapfrog will extract public data (i.e., download data published by CMS or submitted to Leapfrog or secondary data sources) to calculate Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. All data, including Leapfrog Hospital Survey Results, must be finalized by this date. For more information about Leapfrog Hospital Survey deadlines visit https://www.leapfroggroup.org/survey-materials/deadlines.
Mid-February	SPRING COURTESY REVIEW PERIOD As a courtesy to hospitals, Leapfrog will hold a Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period before the public release of each Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade update. The Review Period is an opportunity for hospitals to review the data for accuracy (i.e., identify recording errors, hospital name and address changes, etc.) on a secure website and review changes to the scoring algorithm.
Mid/Late-April	SPRING LETTER EMBARGO PERIOD Following the close of the Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period, Leapfrog finalizes the data and establishes letter grade cut-points. Leapfrog then refreshes the Safety Grade Review website and hospitals are able to participate in a 2-week Letter Grade Embargo Period in which they can preview their letter grade prior to the public announcement.
Late-April	SPRING PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT DATE

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
FALL 2021 SAFETY GRADE TOWN HALL CALL	Leapfrog hosted a a free Town Hall Call on the changes to the measures and scoring methodology, details of the Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period, and important deadlines. Listen to the recording here. View the slides.
Revised and Republished on June 30: Final Updates to the Fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade Methodology and Responses to Public Comments	On April 29, 2021, Leapfrog published planned updates to the Hospital Safety Grade methodology and held a public comment period through May 31, 2021. Following additional public comments received after Leapfrog published the final updates to the fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade on June 28, Leapfrog has revised and republished the document with two revisions. The revisions only apply to scoring for the Hand Hygiene measure from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and updating the missing data thresholds for outcome measures and they are highlighted in yellow in the document below. We thank commenters for their insightful feedback and suggestions that helped us refine the methodology. Click here to download the Final Updates to the Fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade Methodology and Responses to Public Comments.
ARCHIVED TOWN HALL CALLS	Leapfrog hosts a Town Hall Call during the Courtesy Safety Grade Review Period to provide hospitals and other stakeholders with information on changes to the measures and scoring methodology. Listen to the Spring 2021 Town Hall Call recording. View the slides.

For questions about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, or to update information about your facility, contact our Help Desk at https://LeapfrogHelpDesk.Zendesk.com.