We recently held our annual Quality Improvement convening to recognize quality and safety professionals from every hospital in the state. While patient safety is a collective effort, these individuals were named by their organizations and recognized by the Quality Institute for their ongoing dedication to safety and quality. We honored their commitment to their patients, colleagues, and communities. You can find their names here and join us in celebrating these outstanding health care professionals working to provide safe, quality care to all their patients.

At the convening, we also had a panel on The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification in Health Care Equity, a prestigious designation awarded to only 17 health systems nationwide, including five in New Jersey. This certification recognizes organizations that take meaningful steps to integrate health equity into their work through leadership, data collection, collaboration, and performance improvement.  Today, the Quality Institute is releasing a Quality Briefing to assist health systems that are interested in pursuing this designation or otherwise furthering their efforts in advancing health equity and improving health outcomes for all their patients.

To create the briefing, my colleague, Annelise Slater, Program Officer, and I met with three of The Joint Commission designated New Jersey health systems—AtlantiCare, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, and Hackensack Meridian Health—to dive into their best practices in advancing health equity and pursuing The Joint Commission certification.  We encourage you to continue to focus on health equity within your facilities and communities. As you know from your work, safe health care is inclusive and patient-centered, recognizing and addressing the factors that influence individual well-being.

At our convening of nearly 200 participants, our panel’s meaningful discussion reinforced the urgency of maintaining focus and effort to achieve health equity. Audience feedback also underscored the continued interest and support of this work, comments such as “(The information) validated our belief to stay the course … and provided me with talking points for the value and ROI of continuing to seek The Joint Commission’s Health Equity certification.”

We share your ongoing commitment and look forward to providing resources, best practices, trainings, and a forum to advance health care quality and safety, which includes focusing on equity to ensure every patient receives the care they deserve.