Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) has always strived to provide safe quality care to our patients.

With the increasing national and public focus on patient safety, CHOC participates in multiple initiatives to remain innovative in protecting our young patients from medical errors.

Among these are the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ (JCAHO) National Patient Safety Goals which CHOC has been observed to be in full compliance with (see JCAHO Quality Check at www.JCAHO.org).

CHOC participates annually in the National Leapfrog Survey. CHOC scored above average or outstanding on Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety Measures this past year which placed us in the top 25 percent nationally for the Leapfrog Quality Index measuring 27 indicators of hospital based patient safety. The Leapfrog Group is a consortium of 150 public and private organizations that provide healthcare benefits to millions of employees. Leapfrog works with medical experts throughout the United States and the National Quality Forum to help consumers make informed hospital choices based on patient safety and best practice efforts. With a goal of implementation of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) by year-end ’05, CHOC has invested in this proven initiative for patient safety. For more information, go to www.leapfroggroup.org.

As part of a collaborative of Children’s Hospitals, CHOC participates in Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA) efforts to be well-positioned as a high-reliability organization for patient safety.