NJ Hospitals Make Strides in Improving Quality and Patient Safety
In 2002, the New Jersey Hospital Association launched its Institute for Quality and Patient Safety with the intention of increasing quality and safety within hospitals. Task forces tackle problems ranging from the reduction of infection rates to quality healthcare for patients. These efforts have brought recognition and praise for increased quality to the New Jersey hospitals.
Because of these changes, the hospitals have increased their performance and have surpassed national scores in the 2012 Hospital Performance Report, scoring 15 out of 25 recommended measures. Each of the hospitals have scored at least 93 out of 100 on treatment for heart attacks and had fewer central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) All this hard work has ranked New Jersey ninth in the nation in AHQR’s Best Performing States report, which assesses overall implemented measures.
NJHA and member hospitals are part of a federal “hospital engagement network” (HEN), created by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This group works to increase the quality of healthcare while making it more affordable. The sixty-two acute care hospitals involved are seeing good results. The group has decided on two goals:
- Prevent patients from becoming injured or sicker. The group is aiming to decrease healthcare related problems by 40 percent by the end of 2013, compared to 2010. In doing so, there would be 1.8 million fewer patient injuries, saving over 60,000 lives.
- Keep the healing process free of complications. The goal by the end of 2013 is to eliminate preventable complications between care settings by 20 percent from 2010, in order to prevent hospital readmissions. This could mean 1.6 million patients would recover without additional illness or complication.
Overall, the goal is safer healthcare, however other benefits include savings in healthcare costs and benefits to employers who provide health insurance.
A year into New Jersey’s initiative, results are good; care has been improved and costs have been reduced. Measures were taken to prevent complications to central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI), including surgical site infections and catheter associated urinary tract infections. More hospitals are becoming involved and there has been a reduction in infections by 73 percent. Patients and family members are able to access Partnership for Patients website at www.njha.com/pfp for more information.
- May 7, 2013
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