The Leapfrog Group Invites Public Comments on Proposed Changes to the 2026 Leapfrog Surveys
Each year, Leapfrog’s team of researchers reviews the literature and convenes expert panels to ensure the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey align with the latest science as well the public reporting needs of purchasers and consumers.
Additionally, Leapfrog is proposing a comprehensive program redesign for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to vastly increase access to patient safety and quality ratings for consumers and purchasers and make it easier to compare ASCs side-by-side. This programmatic redesign aims to give consumers and purchasers the same level of visibility into ASCs that Leapfrog has given them into hospitals, while making it easier for ASCs to participate in Leapfrog’s voluntary, annual Survey.Once a list of proposed changes is assembled for the next year’s Survey, Leapfrog releases those changes for public comment. The comments are then reviewed by Leapfrog’s research team and used to refine the Survey before it is finalized on April 1, 2026.
Leapfrog has issued an update to the Proposed Changes which were originally published on November 18. This update specifically includes a proposal to require Section 8: Pediatric Care for pediatric hospitals submitting a 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
The updated Proposed Changes can be reviewed here
Leapfrog is grateful to those who take the time to submit comments each year. These comments bring enormous value to Leapfrog’s team and help ensure the Surveys are beneficial to hospitals, purchasers and consumers.
Comments will be accepted until midnight ET on December 18, 2025.
- Submit a public comment on 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Survey proposed changes
- Submit a public comment on 2026 Leapfrog ASC Survey proposed changes
NOVEMBER 30 SURVEY DEADLINE REMINDER
The 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Survey will close to new submissions and re-submissions that reflect updates to performance at midnight ET on November 30. No new Surveys, new Survey sections, or performance updates to previously submitted sections of the Survey can be submitted after this deadline. In addition, the CPOE Evaluation Tool will go offline at 11:59 pm ET on November 30.
Hospitals should print a copy of their CPOE Test Results prior to November 30.Only hospitals that have submitted a Survey by November 30 will be able to log in to the Online Survey Tool to correct data entry or reporting errors (i.e., in response to Leapfrog’s Extensive Monthly Data Review) to previously submitted sections during the months of December and January. Updates made to reflect a change in performance after November 30 will not be scored or publicly reported. New sections of the Survey submitted after November 30 will not be scored or publicly reported.
HELP DESK CLOSURES
The Leapfrog Help Desk is staffed from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET on all regular business days. The Help Desk is not staffed on federal holidays. Please take note of the following upcoming closures.
Thanksgiving
November 26 closing at 2 PM ET
November 27 – 28 closed
Winter Holidays
December 24 closing at 2 PM ET
December 25 – January 1 closed
REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS AND PLANNED UPDATES TO LEAPFROG HOSPITAL SAFETY GRADE METHODOLOGY
Request for Public Comments
Leapfrog requests public comments on an amendment to the Safety Grade Data Snapshot Date policy that would take effect in spring 2026. We also invite public comments on our policy for shared CMS Certification Numbers.
A full description of the policies is available here.
Comments may be submitted here through December 14, 2025. Leapfrog will publish the final policies and responses to public comments by December 31, 2025.
Planned Updates to the 2026 & 2027 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade Methodology
On August 14, 2025, Leapfrog published planned updates to the Hospital Safety Grade methodology and held a public comment period through October 14, 2025. We received a variety of thoughtful comments from different perspectives, which were helpful in finalizing the methodology. We thank all the commenters for their insights. Click here to download and review the final updates to the methodology as well as responses to the comments received.