COURT HOUSE — Officials at a local hospital are pleased with the findings of a recently released state report that found its performance to be among the best of hospitals statewide.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services Oct. 14 released its 2009 Hospital Performance Report, which showed Cape Regional Medical Center top be near the top in three major sections — recommended care, patient safety and outcome of care.
“First of all, we wish to compliment Commissioner of Health Heather Howard for her focus on promoting quality healthcare in New Jersey,” said Dr. Michael Boriss, president of Cape Regional’s medical staff.
The “recommended care” portion of the report rates hospitals on how often they practiced nationally recognized “best treatments” in 2008 while caring for patients with four medical conditions: heart attack, pneumonia, heart failure and surgical infection prevention.
According to the report, Cape Regional scored in the top 50 percent of hospitals in recommended care for three of the four measured indicators, missing in pneumonia care by one percentage point.
In addition to higher scores over the previous two years, Boris noted the hospital’s fine performance last year and added that “Cape Regional Medical Center continues to improve in 2009.”
The “patient safety” portion of the report measures how well the hospital does in preventing complications from procedures. It measured the rate per 1,000 procedures performed in 2007.
“We are proud to say that in 10 of the 12 patient safety indicators, Cape Regional Medical Center was at or better than both the state and national averages. In all 12 patient safety indicators, Cape Regional Medical Center was better than the national average,” Boriss said.
“We are also very proud of the care that our surgeons provide as evidenced by having the second lowest rate in the state of New Jersey for post operative pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.”
The only two indicators in which Cape Regional scored below the state average were postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma and birth trauma.
The “postoperative hemorrhage” tracks the extent to which patients experience too much bleeding or large blood clots following a surgical procedure. Cape Regional’s score was only .4 points higher than the state average.
The “birth trauma indicator flags trauma cases among live births in a hospital. Cape Regional’s score was only 1 point higher than the state average.
The “outcome of care” portion of the report measures the hospital’s mortality rates caring for patients in 2006 with four medical conditions: heart attack, pneumonia, heart failure and stroke. It measured the rate per 100 patients.
“We are proud that Cape Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in the south east region whose mortality rates are below the state-wide average in all categories,” Boriss said.
“The ultimate goal is to eliminate medical errors,” Howard said in a release. “By publicly reporting hospital’s scores, we encourage all hospitals to improve care. Over the last six hospital performance reports, quality of care has improved dramatically in the areas we report on. This year, New Jersey met or exceeded national averages in 24 of 25 measures of quality care.”
“New Jersey is a national leader in promoting health care quality and transparency by giving consumers the facts they need,” Gov. Jon S. Corzine added. “This landmark report will contribute to safer health care for everyone in our state.”
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Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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