List Of N.J. Hospitals Fined For Readmitting Too Many Patients After Discharge

By Tom Davis

The federal government penalized nearly every New Jersey hospital this year for having too many patients readmitted soon after they were discharged.

And the New Jersey Spotlight report shows all N.J. hospitals - except for one - will receive lower Medicare reimbursements as a result.

New Jersey ranked the worst in the country in terms of overall share of hospitals that will be penalized this year, and Palisades Medical Center had the highest readmission rate in the state. Medicare reimbursements there were reduced by 2.49 percent, according to the report.

The fines range from 2.49 percent for Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen to 0.01 percent for Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Bergen Regional Medical Center, which serves many patients with behavioral-health issues, was the only hospital that wasn’t disciplined, according to the report.

The nationwide penalties, which are estimated to total $373 million, are falling particularly hard on academic medical centers: Roughly half of them will be punished, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis.

The below list shows hospitals penalized for high admission rates, from highest penalty to lowest in fiscal year 2016. The scrolled list shows each hospital and their percentage reduction in federal Medicare payments.