From the Commissioner

Welcome to the New Jersey 2010 Hospital Performance Report. This seventh annual report continues the Department’s proud tradition of providing consumer-friendly, high-quality information to New Jersey hospitals and health care consumers. This year’s report has been expanded to include information on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

As the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, I know how important it is to provide the highest quality health care to patients. Concern for patients’ safety and quality of care while in the hospital has emerged as a national and state issue over the last few years as a result of increased awareness of the number and frequency of medical errors and healthcare-associated infections. Driven by this concern, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior services is dedicated to promoting patient safety and high-quality health care. Making the public aware of these issues is an important part of this effort.

To help raise this awareness, the Department developed the annual New Jersey Hospital Performance Report. This year’s report includes one additional measure for surgical care infection prevention in addition to performance measures for heart attack, pneumonia, and congestive heart failure. Two measures, beta blocker at arrival for heart attack patients and oxygenation assessment for pneumonia patients, have been withdrawn. The report also contains the 12 patient safety measures required by New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2471. It has been further expanded to include, for the first time, measures for healthcare-associated infections, also required by legislation (PL of 2007, C 196). All the measures in this report are based on scientific evidence and research performed at the federal level.

I would like to thank the members of the Quality Improvement Advisory Committee (QIAC), whose skills and knowledge have been an enormous resource in developing this report and other Department quality initiatives. QIAC members consist of leaders from the New Jersey hospital industry, insurers, payers, universities, physicians, nurses and consumers, all who volunteer their time in advising the Department and making sure New Jersey is a leader in the national effort to deliver quality health care.

I encourage you to visit our web site at www.nj.gov/health/hpr. It contains additional information, is interactive, and user-friendly. Read about the ways to prevent healthcare-associated infections while in the hospital and what you can do before having surgery to help prevent medical errors from occurring in your care. If you need advice on how to pick a doctor or locate one in New Jersey, refer to the tips in this report.

I hope you find the report useful. Please feel free to send us your feedback on the report or the web site at

Poonam Alaigh, MD, MSHCPM, FACP
Commissioner
Department of Health and Senior Services