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TOMS RIVER, New Jersey, June 1, 2006 – After receiving the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence from HealthGrades and the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety, Community Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, becomes the only hospital in New Jersey to achieve these distinctions for two years in a row. Coupled with its Magnet designation for Nursing Excellence, Community becomes one of only six hospitals in the United States to have achieved this rare distinction.
In addition, Community received five Specialty Excellence awards from HealthGrades, including the 2006 General Surgery, Pulmonary Care, GI Care, Orthopedic Care and Vascular Care Excellence Awards.
This recognition is based on an annual analysis of more than 37 million Medicare patient discharges at nearly every hospital in the country, according to information released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading provider of independent hospital ratings. The 2006 HealthGrades’ ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available to consumers, free of charge, on the Web at www.healthgrades.com.
“It’s an honor to be ranked among the top five percent of hospitals nationally by an independent source such as HealthGrades,” said Mark D. Pilla, executive vice president for Operations, Saint Barnabas Health Care System and executive director of Community Medical Center. “I’d like to congratulate our physicians and staff for their dedication to quality and the outstanding patient outcomes they provide to this community, dedication that makes these outstanding national rankings possible.”
Pilla said more than 2.5 million people and more than 125 of the nation’s largest employers rely on HealthGrades’ quality research to ascertain information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians.
As part of its eighth annual Hospital Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its 2006 ratings, objectively assessing their clinical outcomes and quality. The data utilized in the assessment is licensed from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and is risk-adjusted, so that hospitals with differing patient populations can be compared on equal footing. The HealthGrades ratings measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star), as expected (3-Star) or worse than expected (1-Star).
In its Third Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed nearly 40 million Medicare patient records from federal fiscal years 2002 to 2004 using 13 patient safety indicators developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The patient records were obtained directly from the U.S. government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. More than 5,100 teaching and non-teaching hospitals were analyzed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including all non-federal hospitals that submit Medicare data.
The HealthGrades study compares the rates of key patient safety events, such as post-operative infections and preventable deaths, using AHRQ’s methodology. A total of 1,593 U.S. hospitals (out of more than 5,100 evaluated) were eligible to receive the award, based on HealthGrades’ criteria that recipients must treat a wide range of medical conditions and demonstrate an acceptable level of clinical quality in terms of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades study is based on nearly 40 million patient records in the U.S. Patients treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety are 43 percent less likely to have an adverse, preventable event during their stay.
From the list of eligible recipients, hospitals that performed in the top fifteen percent in terms of outcomes are recognized as recipients of the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety. This year, a total of 238 hospitals (114 teaching and 124 non-teaching) received the prestigious award. This translates into the top five percent nationally for patient safety outcomes, when all U.S. hospitals are considered.
Nationwide, the HealthGrades study found that there were 1.24 million patient safety events in the Medicare patient population, up from 1.18 million events in the 2005 study. Of the 304,702 deaths in the Medicare population during the study period, a total of 250,246 were potentially preventable due to patient safety events. These events also added $9.3 billion in additional costs to the U.S. healthcare system.
If all Medicare patients had been treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety during that period, HealthGrades found that 280,134 patient safety events, 44,153 deaths and $2.45 billion in excess costs could have been avoided.
“Medical errors are primarily an organizational issue resulting from inadequate or nonexistent systems that evidence suggest would reduce the probability of errors,” explained Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades’ vice president of medical affairs. “In our experience, Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety have made a commitment to ensure adequate systems are in place, or soon to be in place, that effectively reduce errors.”
The Third Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study and current clinical quality ratings for all U.S. hospitals are available, free of charge, on the web at www.healthgrades.com.
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of consumers and hundreds of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ independent ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at www.healthgrades.com.
Community Medical Center (CMC) is an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, the largest integrated health care delivery system in New Jersey, with seven acute care hospitals, nine nursing homes, five ambulatory care facilities, three geriatric centers, three assisted living residencies, a freestanding 100-bed inpatient psychiatric facility and a statewide behavioral health network. Located in Toms River, Community is a fully accredited, acute-care 596-bed facility offering the most advanced, ultra-modern diagnostic and treatment services, including emergency and urgent care, laser and arthroscopic surgery, maternity and a Level II special care nursery and pediatrics unit. CMC offers the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center, affiliated with the renowned Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia; state-of-the-art Radiation Oncology; a Renal Dialysis Center; a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, as well as general medical and health care services to the residents of Ocean County; and the Center for Kids and Family with sites located in Toms River and Lacey, and the Lighthouse, a Center for Senior Health with locations in Toms River, Whiting and Lacey. Community Medical Center has been awarded the esteemed Magnet Status for Nursing Excellence from the American Nurses Association's Credentialing Center (ANCC).
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