Overall, two area hospitals, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden and Virtua-West Jersey Hospital-Voorhees, scored in the top half of hospitals in the four areas - treating heart attacks, pneumonia, and heart failure, as well as surgical care.
"The ultimate goal is to eliminate medical errors," said Heather Howard, New Jersey commissioner of health and senior services. "Quality of care has improved dramatically in the areas we report on."
And while Howard touted the report - and an interactive online version that includes some additional data on patient outcomes by hospital - as a tool consumers can use to help them make more informed care choices, she said the overarching goal was to raise the quality bar statewide.
"Public reporting leads to improved performance and will lead to better care," Howard said.
The department used 2008 data collected by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the quality measures. And its error analysis used a methodology developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on 2007 hospital billing data.
The state's sixth such study puts New Jersey in the forefront of hospital quality reporting, although it still trails Pennsylvania, which examines 51 areas of care from strokes and heart attacks to care of diabetics and patients with respiratory failure in its annual report on hospital performance. The Pennsylvania report also includes outcome measures such as death and readmission rates.
Still, experts say reports such as the one issued yesterday in New Jersey are good places for patients to start exploring their care options.
To see the full New Jersey Hospital Performance Report, go to http://go.philly.com/hosp
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