Leapfrog
What’s behind N.J.’s high rate of C-sections?
Many N.J. babies are born by a procedure that is often medically unnecessary and carries risks for mother and child. Published by Lindy Washburn on NorthJersey.com By most measures, New Jersey’s mothers-to-be are the same as those around the country. The state’s obstetricians, likewise, are as dedicated and competent as their peers around the country….Read More…
Garden State Hospitals Earn Better Grades in Latest Survey
Critics claim Leapfrog Group’s grades are based on outdated information, penalize teaching hospitals Published by Lilo H. Stainton in NJ Spotlight Hospitals in New Jersey continue to report lower infection rates, fewer errors and accidents, and improved methods to keep patients safe and appropriately informed, according to the latest report from a national watchdog organization….Read More…
Take Five with Amanda Melillo
Amanda Melillo, Chief of Staff of the Quality Institute, leads the Quality Institute’s Leapfrog programming. She talked with Take Five about recent changes in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. After the spring Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades came out this year we saw a real shake-up in scoring. One-third of New Jersey hospitals dropped a grade…Read More…
Schwimmer: Hospital ratings: imperfect, but still needed
Published by Linda Schwimmer on The Record The federal government last week released a report rating every hospital in the nation. The fallout has been swift. Some call the new ratings from Medicare Compare unfair to teaching hospitals, which often care for the most complex patients. Others said the ratings do not account for the…Read More…
Report Finds 38 of 62 New Jersey Hospitals Have Recommended Intensivist Coverage in Place
CONTACT: Carol Ann Campbell New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute 973-567-1901 Cacampbell@njhcqi.org Report Finds 38 of 62 New Jersey Hospitals Have Recommended Intensivist Coverage in Place Appropriate Staffing Can Mean the Difference Between Life and Death PRINCETON, NJ — July 14, 2016 — A new report released today by health care…Read More…
NJ hospitals make big mistakes, but they respond well
Published by Dino Flammia on New Jersey 101.5 Surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body. A foreign object is left inside a patient after surgery. The wrong egg or sperm is used during artificial insemination. These and many other adverse scenarios are called “never events,” but they do occur at all hospitals — with…Read More…
AT ISSUE: Is our health in a recession?
Published in the Asbury Park Press The death rate in the U.S. increased for the first time in a decade, according to a preliminary report from the National Center for Health Statistics released last month. Is it just a blip or an indication that the nation’s health may be slipping? We posed that question and…Read More…
In NJ, Hospital Data Transparency Reaches High Levels, But Not High Enough Yet
People come to hospitals for care at their most vulnerable moments. They literally put their lives in the hands of health care institutions — the emergency department physicians or the ICU nurses or the operating room surgeons. For years patients made decisions about where to seek treatment without any real information about whether one hospital…Read More…
Inject Sanity Into Health Care Record Keeping and Measurement
Perhaps you’ve heard some version of the saying: You can’t manage what you can’t measure. We need clearly defined measures to gauge the steps toward improvement and objective criteria to determine if we have achieved true progress. In health care we’ve seen how gathering measurements can advance care. Take hospital- acquired infections. By using defined…Read More…
Assessing Value in Healthcare: The Quest of the Health Care Quality Institute
Published in New Jersey Business Magazine May 11, 2015 The cost of health insurance continues to be the biggest issue facing New Jersey employers. Businesses remain committed to providing health benefits to their employees, but rising costs seem to make it harder to do every year. For Linda Schwimmer of the Health Care Quality Institute,…Read More…