The Hospital Safety Score, a public service provided by The Leapfrog Group, has made it more difficult for a medical center to earn a top rating.
Hospitals are places best avoided, but if you have to use their services, it's good to know you are in good hands - or not.
As pointed out in a recent report on nj.com, one-third of New Jersey's hospitals dropped a grade or more in the latest national report card judging how well they kept their patients safe by protecting them from infections, bed sores and harmful errors during their stays.
Nationally, New Jersey's hospital ranking plummeted to 22nd place this year compared to last year's respectable fifth-place status in the Hospital Safety Score, a public service provided by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit health care watchdog organization. It's the lowest the state has ever scored in the nine reports issued since 2012 by Leapfrog.
It has to be pointed out that the criteria used by Leapfrog to rate hospitals was expanded and graded on a tougher curve for this year's survey, according to Linda Schwimmer, president and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, a Leapfrog-affiliated organization.
Hospitals are now judged on patient surveys grading their interaction and communication with nurses and doctors, and the incidence of life-threatening infections such as medically resistant staph infections.
These hospitals are the safest in N.J.
Medical facilities in our area reflect the statewide trend of lower ratings.
Of the five hospitals in or near Mercer County, none received the top A rating.
Three received a B rating: University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton and Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton.
Following up with a rating of C were: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton and Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell.
None of these local hospitals saw their scores improve from the previous year, while the rest either stayed the same or dropped slightly. Luckily, none of the local hospitals was rated below C.
Of the 67 New Jersey hospitals that participated in the review, 23 received an A, nine fewer than last year. Among those earning the top ranking were Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly and St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Only two hospitals in New Jersey failed to make a C: Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus (D) and St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark (F).
If nothing else, the Hospital Safety Score provides a valuable yardstick for the public to use if they need medical treatment and have the option of selecting where to get it.
Better still, it serves as an impetus for image-minded hospitals to do a better job in providing quality health care.
Follow NJ.com Opinion on Twitter@NJ_Opinion. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.