Hospital Safety In NJ: How Safe Is SOCH, Other Hospitals?

Another hospital report card is out - but this one measures safety, preventable harm, accidents, injuries and other potential liabilities at the nation’s health care facilities, including your local New Jersey hospital.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit organization representing employers and purchasers of health care, has released Hospital Safety Scores for fall 2015 that says nearly half of 66 New Jersey hospitals that participated in the safety program performed at the highest level and received “A” grades (see report card below).

Another 15 hospitals received “B” grades and 20 hospitals received “C” grades, according to the Health Care Quality Institute.

Hospitals whose grades slipped from “B” to “C” since the last survey was performed in the spring include: AtlantiCare facilities in Atlantic County, Cape Regional Medical Center in Cape May, Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, St. Luke’s Warren Campus in Phillipsburg, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, Newark Beth Israel Center, Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus and CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold, according to a Hospital Care Quality Institute release.

>>Related: N.J. Hospitals Rated From Worst To First: How Does Your Hospital Rate?

The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute announced in the news release that the “Hospital Safety Scores” were based on how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm, including accidents, injuries, and infections. Nationwide, hospital errors are the third leading cause of death behind only heart disease and cancer, according to the release.

In New Jersey, grades were assigned to 66 hospitals with 29 receiving an A, the highest letter grade, ranking New Jersey 5th in the nation for percentage of hospitals receiving an A. Nine of those hospitals have received “Straight As” since the inception of the Score in 2012. Moreover, an additional 21 have consistently received an A or B score, according to the release.

“Hospitals must consistently demonstrate their capability to prevent harm in order to earn the trust of their patients. That’s why the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute wants to recognize all our A hospitals and encourage them to strive for continued vigilance and excellence, keeping the well-being of their patients and prevention of harm as the number-one priority,” said Linda Schwimmer, Vice President of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute and Board Member of The Leapfrog Group.

Here is the report that was released by NJBIZ: http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/search?findBy=state&zip_code=&city=&state_prov=NJ&hospital=