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A federal judge rules that The Leapfrog Group’s safety grades for five Palm Beach County hospitals were “unfair and deceptive,” ordering the national ratings organization to remove those grades and stop issuing new ones under its current methodology.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by Palm Beach Health Network, which operates five Tenet-owned hospitals in the county.
Those hospitals say Leapfrog unfairly penalized them after they chose not to complete Leapfrog’s voluntary safety survey. Leapfrog assigns hospitals letter grades - from “A” to “F” - based on safety data. But in a 41-page ruling, the West Palm Beach judge found that the way Leapfrog calculated grades for non-participating hospitals was flawed and punitive.
Leapfrog Group President Leah Binder disagrees with the judge's ruling and an appeal is planned.
During the trial, hospital leaders testified that the grades affected patient perception and led to negative publicity in the community. The court found that publishing those scores caused real-world impact, including patient diversion and reputational harm.