Leapfrog medical errors calculator gives hospitals real cost of deadly mistakes

The Leapfrog Group has unveiled a new interactive tool aimed at shedding light on the impact of medical errors on an employer's covered population.

[Also: Leapfrog medical errors calculator gives hospitals real cost of deadly mistakes]

The Lives and Dollars Lost to Medical Errors Calculator was originally launched in 2013 as the Hidden Surcharges Calculator. In its current form, the tool allows purchasers to estimate the number of avoidable deaths among covered lives, what is spent each year in relation to medical errors within general acute care hospitals, and how much of their total healthcare spend goes to medical mistakes, Leapfrog said.

The calculator draws on insight from Leapfrog's lives lost analysis, for which they partnered with the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine to conduct. It showed hospitals receiving D and F Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades had a nearly 50 percent greater risk of mortality than hospitals who scored As. The analysis also said more than 33,000 lives could be saved if all hospitals performed at the level A hospitals do.

[Also: See which hospitals earned an 'A' from Leapfrog]

"When we launched the calculator in 2013, our goal was to expose the hidden surcharges associated with medical errors. Though they aren't indicated as a line item on a bill, employers and purchasers are certainly paying for them," said Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder. "Since introducing the calculator, we're now able to tabulate an even more important estimate of the price purchasers pay - the estimated number of lives that are lost amongst their covered population."

[Also: See which hospitals earned an 'F' from Leapfrog]

The Leapfrog is best known throughout the healthcare industry for its twice-a-year hospital safety grades, which score hospitals nationwide on their patient safety performance.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn