Most NJ hospitals stay the course, but fall Leapfrog grades show in-state dips

Nationwide, infection rates improve as patient experience drops

Jessica Perry//November 6, 2023//

Nationwide, infection rates improve as patient experience drops

Jessica Perry//November 6, 2023//

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Fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grades are out from The Leapfrog Group. While the majority of New Jersey’s 67 participating facilities maintained their marks from the spring, nearly 20 posted declines in the twice yearly assessment.

Released Nov. 6, the report, which assigns a letter grade to nearly 3,000 general hospitals nationwide, is the group’s first to reflect hospital performance data from the “post-pandemic” time period. And while facilities saw improved infection rates following upticks amid the onset of COVID-19, when it comes to patient experience, feedback fell for the second-consecutive year.

In a statement, The Leapfrog Group CEO Leah Binder described the trend as “deeply concerning.”

“[W]e are encouraged by the improvement in infections and applaud hospitals for reversing the disturbing infection spike we saw during the pandemic,” she said, adding: “However, there’s still more work to be done.”

While the Garden State continued its run without any hospitals earning a D or F grade, 17 dropped at least one letter—with Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark posting the most significant fall: from an A to a C since the springtime report.

Overall, Leapfrog Group reported that throughout the U.S., 30% of facilities earned an A, 24% a B, 39% a C, 7% a D and less than 1% an F.

Across New Jersey hospitals, nearly:

36% earned an A
39% earned a B
24% earned a C

According to The Leapfrog Group, Utah led the nation with the highest percentage of A hospitals—a distinction New Jersey held in the spring assessment. This fall, the Garden State did not rank among the top 10 states, according to the updated report, posting a loss of 11 A-grades over the prior release to rank at 13th across the U.S.

In a silver lining, the state was also not identified as having the most significant declines in categories contributing to patient experience, while neighboring New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut were cited in those categories.

In the fall report, 76% of New Jersey hospitals had either an A or B grade, compared with 78% in the spring.

According to the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, New Jersey does have the highest rate of participation with the Leapfrog Hospital survey, at 98.6%. The organization said just one facility – Salem Medical Center – did not submit for the fall.

Going up

Five Garden State facilities saw their marks improve from the spring assessment.

Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital in Cherry Hill and Saint Clare’s Hospital of Denville saw their grades go from a B to an A, while Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck; Shore Medical Center in Somers Point; and St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center in Wayne all moved from Cs to Bs.

Most of the facilities that recorded falls saw their marks go from an A grade to a B, including:

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center – City Campus — Atlantic City
Capital Health Medical Center — Hopewell Pennington
Chilton Medical Center — Pompton Plains
Cooper University Hospital — Camden
Hackensack Meridian Bayshore Medical Center — Holmdel
Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center — Montclair
Hackensack Meridian Old Bridge Medical Center — Old Bridge
Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center — North Bergen
Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center — Perth Amboy
Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center — Red Bank
Monmouth Medical Center — Long Branch
Newton Medical Center — Newton

Four more facilities in the Garden State saw drops from Bs to Cs:

CarePoint Health-Christ Hospital — Jersey City
Clara Maass Medical Center — Belleville
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center — Newark
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton — Hamilton

Director of Quality for the Quality Institute Adelisa Perez-Hudgins noted the Garden State’s loss of A-rated hospitals.

“The drop … reminds us that quality improvement is a continuous journey that requires attention and persistence,” she said in a statement. “Top rated hospitals are focused on evaluation, education, and supporting people working at all levels of their organization.”

The big picture

The Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades to participating facilities based on their record of patient safety and helping consumers to protect themselves from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The peer-reviewed system is based on more than 30 national performance measures that are updated for each assessment.

According to Leapfrog, the latest data shows more than 85% of hospitals have improved their performance on at least one of the three dangerous infections the Safety Grade accounts for: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).

During the pandemic, the trio of health care-acquired infections or HAIs hit a five-year peak.

“We’re thankful to see reductions in hospital acquired infections, which can cause serious harm and even kill patients,” Quality Institute President and CEO Linda Schwimmer said in a statement released with the most-recent assessment. “We know that advancing patient safety requires unrelenting focus, and so we are pleased that New Jersey’s hospitals have once again shown their commitment to transparency and quality through our state’s high voluntary participation in Leapfrog.”

When it comes to deteriorating patient experience, The Leapfrog Group found that the most significant declines occurred in the “communication about medicines” and “responsiveness of hospital staff” categories.

Binder drew a connection between that and staffing shortages facilities face nationwide, including New Jersey where 1,700 nurses have been on strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for several months in New Brunswick, demanding – among other items – better staffing ratios for patients and practitioners.

“In talking with hospital leaders, we believe staffing shortages are one key reason for the continued decline,” Binder commented. “Many hospitals are innovating to help make patient experience better, which is critical because these results are disheartening and unsustainable.”