A federal judge on Wednesday denied Leapfrog Group’s appeal to a ruling in a lawsuit that led the nonprofit to change how it grades hospital safety factors.
In March, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida sided with five Tenet-owned South Florida hospitals, ruling Leapfrog’s grading system could mislead the public by automatically assigning the lowest scores to hospitals that declined to participate in voluntary surveys.
The facilities, all part of the Palm Beach Health Network, claimed the poor ratings harmed patients and undermined trust.
Middlebrooks issued an injunction requiring Leapfrog to remove the hospitals’ grades and notify users that certain past ratings relied on a “deceptive and unfair” methodology. The judge said converting missing data into failing scores unfairly penalized nonparticipating hospitals.
Leapfrog complied with the order. In May, its spring report did not assign grades to about 450 hospitals that did not participate.
Eight were in Florida, including the five that filed suit: Good Samaritan Medical Center and St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach; Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach; Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center; and West Boca Medical Center.
Middlebrooks also denied the hospital’s attempt to force Leapfrog to cover $10.5 million in legal fees. The judge said the request could be refiled after Leapfrog exhausted all appeals.
