Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals Receive Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM

Bayshore Medical Center, JFK Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center in the top 5/10% in the Nation for Patient Safety

Hackensack Meridian Health announced today that four of its hospitals – Bayshore Medical Center, JFK Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center –received the Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. This distinction places Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals among the top 5/10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

“Hackensack Meridian Health is committed to maintaining a culture of quality and safety and providing exceptional outcomes for our patients,” said Robert C. Garrett, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health. “I would like to congratulate our hospitals for achieving the 2019 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, which places them among the top hospitals in the nation for patient safety.”

During the study period from 2015 to 2017, Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 14 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipients hospitals, on average*:

55.9% less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care

50.9% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest

64.4% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital

57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital

In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 14 Patient Safety Indicators, 127,667 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

“We are proud to recognize the recipients of the 2019 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, which shines a spotlight on the hospitals that are preventing the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications, for patients during their hospital stay,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer, Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals and their commitment to providing the best possible care for every patient.”

This is the third year in a row that Bayshore Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center received this award, and the first year JFK Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center is receiving this award. Click here to view the Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.

In May, six Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals were awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Guide, including: Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel; Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune; Ocean Medical Center, Brick; Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy; Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank; and Southern Ocean Medical Center, Manahawkin. The designation recognizes the network’s hospitals for their efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 5e and 2018) to MedPAR data for years 2015 through 2017 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.