Belleville, NJ – Clara Maass Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, announced today that it is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award TM. This distinction places Clara Maass Medical Center among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.
During the study period (2016-2018), Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safeguarding patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes—risk-adjusted patient safety indicator (PSI) rates—for 13 PSIs defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
“As part of our journey to become a high reliability organization, we consider patient safety to be a very high priority and it remains a concerted effort across all areas of Clara Maass Medical Center including our physicians, nurses, staff, volunteers and leadership,” said Mary Ellen Clyne, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Clara Maass Medical Center. “Safety is an important measure for patients and even more so for our community. It provides them with assurance that they will receive outstanding care at our facility” Clyne said.
“We have made a number of significant improvements to move towards clinical excellence, such as increasing the size of our Infection Prevention team, which has been particularly vital to our patient safety efforts. Having earned another recognition for Patient Safety especially during the COVID-19 pandemic affirms that that our leadership team has made the right investments in our clinical effectiveness initiatives,” said Naveen Ballem, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Clara Maass Medical Center.
Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average*:
- 48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided* (*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2019.0.1) to MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only).
“Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”
View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
About Clara Maass Medical Center
Located in Belleville, NJ, Clara Maass Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, provides a complete continuum of care to residents of northern New Jersey. Clara Maass completed state-of-the-art campus expansion project featuring a new four-story 87,000 square foot building with a private, 32-bed Intensive Care Unit, new Main Entrance and Lobby, Retail Pharmacy, and Patient Registration Area. Clara Maass’ key programs and services include: The Cancer Center, Center for Breast Health and Disease Management, Radiation Oncology, Infusion Therapy, Cardiac Services Elective and Emergency Angioplasty and Cardiac Rehabilitation, The Pain Management Center, The Joint & Spine Institute, a Vascular Lab, The Vein Center, The Wound Center, The Center for Sleep Disorders, The Bariatric Surgery Center, Rehabilitation; Therapy Services which includes, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, The Eye Surgery Center, Maternity Services and Parent Education, Pediatrics, Center of Excellence for Latino Health, and the Health and Wellness Center. Clara Maass has been recognized with twelve Grade ‘A’ scores for patient safety and quality by The Leapfrog Group. It is listed by the American Hospital Association as one of Healthcare’s Most Wired hospitals. Clara Maass received Disease Specific Care Certification from the Joint Commission for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS), Congestive Heart Failure, Hip Replacement, Knee Replacement, Cardiac Rehabilitation and Advanced Certification in Palliative Care. Clara Maass earned Clara Maass’ steadfast commitment to improve the health and well-being of the communities it serves is exemplified through award winning programs including the nationally recognized HELP Volunteer program, recipient of the American Hospital Association 2017 HAVE Award, and the Wellness Assessment Van for Elders (WAVE) which was recognized as the New Jersey Hospital Association’s 2017 HRET Community Outreach Award. For a physician referral or more information about Clara Maass, call 1-888-724-7123 or visit www.rwjbh.org/claramaass.
Contact: Stacie J. Newton
Office:(973) 450-2989
Mobile: (201) 424-9678
E-mail: Stacie.Newton@rwjbh.org