Princeton, New Jersey – April 24, 2018 – The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, announced today the updated Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. General acute-care hospitals in the U.S. are assigned letter grades of A, B, C, D or F based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. These errors, killing or harming millions of people per year, are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
New Jersey is one of the few regions with consistently high hospital participation in The Leapfrog Group’s surveys and had the highest rate of survey participation in 2017 for regions with over 50 targeted hospitals at 94.4% participation. The only eligible hospitals in New Jersey that do not voluntarily provide their hospital safety data to The Leapfrog Group are East Orange General Hospital, Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus (formerly Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center), Memorial Hospital of Salem County, and St. Luke’s Warren Campus. Of 65 New Jersey hospitals graded, 22 were awarded an ‘A,’ demonstrating excellence in patient safety. Those hospitals receiving an ‘A’ in New Jersey are:
Bayshore Medical Center
Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell
CarePoint Health – Bayonne Medical Center
Clara Maass Medical Center
Hackensack University Medical Center (Hackensack)
Holy Name Medical Center
Inspira Medical Center Vineland
Jefferson Stratford Hospital
Jefferson Washington Township Hospital
Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Monmouth Medical Center
Morristown Medical Center
Newton Medical Center
Overlook Medical Center
Riverview Medical Center
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Shore Medical Center
The Valley Hospital
University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro
Virtua Marlton Hospital
Virtua Voorhees Hospital.
“With more than 200,000 people dying due to errors in hospitals every year, communities must be vigilant in monitoring the safety records of their local facilities,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade helps shed light on those hospitals in need of improvement, while also highlighting the safer facilities, to make it easy for patients to choose the best option for their care.”
The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute serves as the Regional Leader for The Leapfrog Group in New Jersey and Linda Schwimmer, the Quality Institute’s President & CEO, serves on the Leapfrog Board of Directors.
“Patient safety should be a priority for all residents of New Jersey. We are committed to ensuring our hospitals offer the best and safest care to their patients,” said Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. “We strive to work together with the hospitals and other stakeholders in our community to ensure excellent and safe care.”
Although New Jersey fell in The Leapfrog Group’s national ranking from #11 in Fall 2017 to #17 in Spring 2018 for percentage of ‘A’ hospitals within a region, 46 of the 65 hospitals graded in New Jersey received either an A or a B grade which is 5 percent higher than the last round. New Jersey has one straight A hospital since the grade’s inception in 2012: Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
12 hospitals went up in their grade, and 15 hospitals went down in their grade, “This level of fluctuation from a high grade to a lower grade, or from a lower grade to a higher grade underscores the importance of constant vigilance by hospital leadership and its professional staff to assure patients are receiving the safest possible care,” said Schwimmer. “It is not easy to keep safety processes functioning effectively every day which is particularly why we commend the hospitals that have maintained consistently high grades.”
New Jersey did have one hospital that received an F grade: University Hospital in Newark. This was one of 22 hospitals, nationally, that received an F.
Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
To see the complete Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade and access consumer-friendly tips for patients, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org, and follow The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook. Journalists interested in scheduling interviews should email SternLeapfrogTeam@SternStrategy.com.
About The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute
The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute is the only independent, nonpartisan, multi-stakeholder advocate for health care quality in New Jersey. The Quality Institute’s mission is to undertake projects and promote system changes that ensure that quality, safety, accountability and cost-containment are closely linked to the delivery of health care services in New Jersey. Learn more about us at www.njhcqi.org and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.
CONTACT:
Carol Ann Campbell
New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute
973-567-1901