The Leapfrog Group has sent a cease-and-desist letter to five Palm Beach County hospitals in the wake of their lawsuit filed against the nonprofit health care watchdog.
The letter demands the hospitals, all owned by for-profit Tenet Healthcare, and a law firm stop spreading "false statements" about Leapfrog Group and its safety grades process.
News of the letter was first reported by Modern Healthcare.
The letter follows the hospitals’ April 30 federal lawsuit that accuses Leapfrog Group of publishing misleading safety rankings with a “rigged” methodology.
According to the lawsuit, Leapfrog Group pressures hospitals to volunteer their data and pay for memberships, and that the highest-rated hospitals are paying members. Leapfrog disputes the allegations.
The hospitals are 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 in Boca Raton.
According Leapfrog Group, a safety grade of F was given to Delray, West Boca and Palm Beach Gardens; and a grade of D was given to Good Samaritan and St. Mary's.
The hospitals are seeking over $75,000 in damages, for Leapfrog to cease grading them and for the recent grades to be removed from Leapfrog Group's safety report cards.
