POMPTON PLAINS — The New Jersey Hospital Association announced that Chilton Medical Center has achieved Mentor Status for its work in the Partnership for Patients – New Jersey initiative.
Mentor status means that Chilton Medical Center received the highest score in one or more of the healthcare-acquired conditions being measured by Partnership for Patients – New Jersey. The measures included Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection prevention, Early Elective Delivery prevention and Surgical Site Infection reduction.
“This recognition by the New Jersey Hospital Association affirms Chilton Medical Center’s status as a regional leader in clinical quality and also reflects the advances we have made in providing superior health care to our communities,” said Deborah Zastocki, RN, DNP, president, Chilton Medical Center and vice president, Atlantic Health System. “We remain committed to providing the highest levels of safety and quality to every patient in our medical center.”
Earlier this year, Chilton also received recognition as a top performer on key quality measures by The Joint Commission for attaining and sustaining excellence in heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.
Partnership for Patients is a national initiative developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve the quality, safety and affordability of healthcare. NJHA’s Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey was selected by CMS in Dec. 2011 to bring the Partnership for Patients initiative to New Jersey hospitals as part of a “hospital engagement network,” or HEN. Sixty-three of the state’s 72 acute care facilities joined NJHA’s HEN. NJHA’s effort was among 26 HENs established nationwide.
Statewide, Partnership for Patients-New Jersey participants averted 9,206 adverse patient events in 2013 and saved up to $125 million in healthcare costs. In the project’s first year, adverse drug events dropped by 50 percent; surgical site infections decreased by 59 percent; and the incidence of pressure ulcers was reduced by 43 percent. Of the 10 healthcare-acquired conditions being tracked, each area has posted a decrease since the beginning of the Partnership for Patients initiative.
For patients, this work has resulted in healthcare that is safer, more efficient and ultimately more affordable. Based on this work, and reflected in the data, patients in a New Jersey hospital today are less likely to develop a post-surgical infection; experience an adverse event from improper medication or a fall; get pneumonia, a urinary tract infection or a bloodstream infection while hospitalized; or develop a pressure ulcer.
To learn more about Chilton Medical Center’s role in New Jersey’s initiative, visit www.njha.com/pfp.