National Survey Results: New Jersey Children's Hospital Leads Nation in Patient Satisfaction

New Brunswick, NJ (PRWEB) October 24, 2004 -

– The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has done it again, ranking among the top 1 percent of hospitals in the nation in customer satisfaction.

For the third quarter in a row, the children’s hospital scored in the 99th percentile of United States children’s hospitals in patient satisfaction, according to Press Ganey, a company that statistically measures hospital patient satisfaction.

The children’s hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has been a favorite with patients since its opening in 2001, but patient satisfaction scores over the past two years have never been stronger. The hospital has maintained its 99th percentile ranking over the past three consecutive quarters, and has ranked higher than 95 percent since January 2003.

The Press Ganey report paints a picture of a hospital that is exceeding patient expectations across numerous criteria, from the quality of its meals, to friendliness of nurses, to the amount of time physicians spend with patients.

The children’s hospital nurses, for example, ranked in the 99th percentile in patient satisfaction, according to Press Ganey, whose surveys asked patients to rate the nurses on various standards including friendliness, skill, attention to personal needs and promptness in answering the call button.

The doctors at the children’s hospital also scored in the 99th percentile, with patients praising them across criteria that included the amount of time spent with patients, the ability to keep patients informed and clearly explain issues, the doctor’s friendliness and caring, and their trustworthiness.

Other criteria in which the hospital scored higher than 95 percent of all the nation’s children’s hospitals included the overall “cheerfulness” of the hospital, the safety and security of the building, and the hospital staff’s attitude toward family members and visitors.

“Our children’s hospital provides the kind of comprehensive medical and surgical care that only a major teaching hospital can offer, but it clearly provides much more,” said Daniel Notterman, MD, Physician-in-Chief of the children’s hospital, and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “As the patient satisfaction scores demonstrate, our children’s hospital keeps children and families happier than 99 percent of the nation’s children’s hospitals.”

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University hospital is a state-designated specialty acute care children’s hospital under the clinical leadership of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

A sampling of its medical specialties include pediatric neurosurgery, pediatric oncology, pediatric orthopedic surgery, pediatric rheumatology and metabolics diseases, and pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery.

Special amenities abound at the children’s hospital, including an “interactive gallery” with talking animals, a room-service menu filled with kids’ favorites, extra beds for parents in every room, as well as the latest video game system.

“New Jersey and indeed the nation should take note: The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital is almost without peer in the United States in terms of patient satisfaction,” said Trisha Montague, RN, children’s hospital vice president.

The popularity of the children’s hospital has already necessitated a $30 million expansion that is adding two new patient floors and increases the number of beds from 70 to 94. The expansion, which will be complete in early 2005, will also add a pediatric cardiac catheterization lab to support the hospital’s newly constituted pediatric cardiac surgery program.

Noting that the hospital is also a Regional Perinatal Center, Dr. Notterman said the expanded children’s hospital will also contain a new, state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for very sick or premature infants, and an expanded array of amenities for parents, including sleep areas and more private space.

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