Hospital gets top marks from state on quality of treatment

Performance report puts University Medical Center at Princeton above all others in county and in top 10 percent in state

By: Hilary Parker
   University Medical Center at Princeton received top marks Thursday in New Jersey’s third annual Hospital Performance Report, placing above all other hospitals in Mercer County and in the top 10 percent of hospitals throughout the state.
   Released at a press conference at the hospital, the report documents the frequency with which hospitals in 2005 used nationally recognized best practices in the treatment of heart attacks, pneumonia and congestive heart failure, said state Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred M. Jacobs. These include measures such as providing heart attack patients with aspirin or administering antibiotics to pneumonia patients within four hours of their arrival at the hospital.
   In introducing Commissioner Jacobs, Princeton HealthCare System President and CEO Barry Rabner took a few moments to laud his staff for their commitment to quality care at UMCP.
   "Thank you for the obsession that you all have for making things better here," he told them.
   UMCP earned an overall score of 99 percent for the use of best practices in the treatment of heart attacks, an overall score of 94 percent for the treatment of pneumonia and an overall score of 95 percent for measures to treat heart failure.
   The annual report, first issued in 2004, was created to improve hospital care throughout the state, Commissioner Jacobs said. Through the public report of information, he said, hospitals will enact measures to improve quality in needed areas. The substantial gains in the use of best practices over the past three years are evidence to this point, he said.
   This year’s report was expanded from previous years to measure five new best-practice indicators in the areas of heart attacks and pneumonia, as well as the entire congestive heart failure category. Next year’s report will grow to include an assessment of measures taken to prevent surgical infections, Commissioner Jacobs said.
   While the state’s 81 hospitals, taken together, scored higher than the national average on the vast majority of measures, Commissioner Jacobs said work still remains to be done.
   "We want to see every eligible patient in the state receiving the treatments contained in this report every time," he said.
   Pamela Allen, a co-chair of the department’s 25-member Quality Improvement Advisory Committee and the corporate director of pharmacy and chief pharmacy officer at Saint Barnabas Healthcare System, also spoke at the conference.
   The results of the Hospital Performance Report are available in an interactive format online at www.nj.gov/health/hpr.