N.J. health systems get "A" Through "D" Ratings For Safety

Source: NJ Biz.com Health
New Jersey has no failing grade hospitals for patient safety, according to the latest Leapfrog safety scores, for fall 2016. Leapfrog determines its scores using 30 hospital safety criteria, assigning grades twice a year to more than 2,600 hospitals nationwide.
Inspira Health Network, Kennedy Health, Virtua Health, the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck all received straight “A’s” for all hospital locations in each health system. Also earning an “A” is Englewood Hospital and Medical Center for its 10th consecutive time.
“As the science of patient safety and performance measurement improves, Leapfrog’s scoring methodology continues to evolve,” said Michael Maron, Holy Name’s CEO and president. “At Holy Name, we’ve been using the data in these reports to continuously improve our safety measures, in accordance with our commitment to meet the highest standards, and we’re confident these efforts are seen in our ‘A’ rating.”
At the other end of the spectrum, St. Michael’s has improved to a “D” rating after receiving an “F” in the spring. Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley, which reopened in 2013, received its first recorded rating of “D”. Also receiving a “D” rating is University Hospital, dropping from being a “C”-rated facility.
“The Leapfrog report for the most part reflects a period of time prior to the purchase of the hospital in May 2016 by Prime Healthcare, an award-winning health system that makes patient safety and continuous quality improvement a priority,” said Dr. Claudia Komer, the chief medical officer at St. Michael’s. “As with all Prime Healthcare hospitals, we share the goals and high performance encouraged by Leapfrog. The report shows we have made vast improvements in our processes in a short period of time.”
University Hospital said in a statement, “While the high-quality work and outstanding outcomes of University Hospital are not reflected in the Leapfrog scores, the executive leadership team is revamping the way our data are documented, coded, captured and measured so that the Leapfrog scores more accurately reflect the high level of clinical excellence at University Hospital.”

The full list of New Jersey grades can be found here.

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