Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center Achieves Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award

Ocean Medical Center in the top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety

Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center announced that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. This distinction places Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

“Patient safety is a priority for Hackensack Meridian Health and we strive to achieve the best patient outcomes in all our hospitals,” says Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, Hackensack Meridian Health, regional president, southern market. “I am so proud of the Ocean Medical Center teams that work diligently to ensure effective patient safety measures are in place in all clinical areas.  I congratulate the medical center on receiving this prestigious award.”

During the study period (2016 through 2018), Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safeguarding patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes—risk-adjusted patient safety indicator (PSI) rates—for 13 PSIs defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A 14th PSI included in the evaluation is Foreign Objects Left in Body During a Surgery or Procedure which is a “never” event and does not have an expected rate.

“At Ocean Medical Center, we put patient safety first,” says Jason Kreitner, FACHE, chief hospital executive, Ocean Medical Center. “This prestigious distinction is evidence of our ongoing commitment to clinical quality and patient care. I am honored to be part of this amazing team.”

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:

48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non- recipient hospitals.

In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided.*

“Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”

View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2019.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center announced that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. This distinction places Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN OCEAN MEDICAL CENTER

Serving southern Monmouth and northern Ocean counties, Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center is ranked # 7 in New Jersey by U.S. News & World Report 2019-20 and is also ranked High Performing in the U.S. in congestive heart failure, colon cancer surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hip replacement and knee replacement.

As an advanced care hospital, Ocean Medical Center offers the convenience and easy access of a community hospital, with the high technology advances and expertise of a major medical center featuring expert care coordinated by a team of top specialists in emergency, cardiovascular, women’s health, cancer and orthopedic services.

Delivering on this promise, Ocean Medical Center is home to an innovative medical surgical floor equipped with 36 private patient beds that integrates technology and design to transform the patient experience and empower patients to return to their lives as soon as possible.

This forward-thinking renovation project completed an $82 million expansion that includes the 44,300-square-foot, state-of-the-art Hirair and Anna Hovnanian Emergency Care Center and a new comprehensive Cancer Center. Ocean Medical Center officially became a premier community-based teaching hospital with the launch of its inaugural class of family medicine and psychiatry residents in 2018. Further medical education developments included the addition of an Internal Medicine Residency program in 2019.

Ocean Medical Center has been named to Newsweek’s 2020 list of Best Maternity Hospitals which distinction recognizes facilities that have excelled in providing care to mothers, newborns, and their families.  Ocean Medical Center is also home to The Jersey Coast Vascular Institute (JCVI) offering of the most comprehensive vascular programs in the state. Led by a team of seven board-certified, fellowship trained specialists, hundreds of complex procedures are performed annually including advanced minimally-invasive interventions such as Trans-cervical Carotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) and Fenestrated Endovascular Repair (FEVAR).  With the completion of the $19.5M Heart & Vascular Center in June 2021, Ocean Medical Center will become one of the nation’s most advanced interventional catheterization and vascular lab for heart and vascular diagnosis and treatment.

Certified by the Joint Commission as an accredited Orthopedic program, Ocean Medical Center is a destination for orthopedic joint replacements where more than 1,000 joint replacements are done annually. Ocean is also certified by The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke program and holds prestigious disease specific designations in joint replacement, stoke, palliative care, colon cancer surgery, and sepsis.

Other key services include: brain lab neurological surgery, DaTscan and advanced imaging technology; da Vinci robotic surgery; general thoracic and vascular surgery; acute care of the elderly; and critical care services.  Shore Rehabilitation Institute, a 40-acute bed rehabilitation hospital is located on the campus offering comprehensive inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services.

The medical center has achieved Magnet recognition, one of the highest and most prestigious distinctions a health care organization can receive for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care; has maintained an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade been awarded Top Teaching Hospital by Leapfrog; and has received the 2020 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award for superior safety performance.

Additional certifications and awards include: 2019 Get with the Guidelines continuous quality improvement awards for Heart Failure Gold Plus Award, Stroke Gold Plus and Stroke Honor Roll Elite Awards and the 2019-2020 ACTION Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award.

The medical center operates the state’s first satellite Emergency Care Center in Point Pleasant, the Ocean Care Center, and hospital-based programs at Jackson Health Village.