Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety selected to continue improvements in patient safety

Hospital Engagement Networks will continue patient safety improvement efforts in hospitals

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Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety

Oct 05, 2015, 07:00 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) has been selected as one of 17 national, regional, or state hospital associations and health system organizations to continue efforts in reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions.

Through the Partnership for Patients initiative – a nationwide public-private collaboration that began in 2011 to reduce preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and 30-day readmissions by 20 percent – SPS will participate in a second round of Hospital Engagement Networks to continue working to improve patient care in the hospital setting.

SPS has already saved approximately 3,700 children from harm and prevented an estimate of $79 million in costs from the healthcare system with its collaboration to reduce certain hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent, reduce readmissions by 10 percent and reduce serious safety events by 25 percent. SPS began in Ohio in 2009 as a network of eight children's hospitals and has now expanded to more than 90 hospitals across North America, all focused on reducing serious harm and building a "culture of safety" within each hospital.

Since the launch of the Partnership for Patients, the vast majority of U.S. hospitals and many other stakeholders have joined the collaborative effort and delivered results. The Department of Health and Human Services has estimated that 50,000 fewer patients died in hospitals and approximately $12 billion in health care costs were saved as a result of a reduction in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2013. Nationally, patient safety is improving, resulting in 1.3 million adverse events and infections avoided in hospitals since in that time period. This translates to a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions over the three-year period.

The Partnership for Patients and the Hospital Engagement Networks are one part of an overall framework established by the Affordable Care Act to deliver better care, spend dollars more wisely, and improve care. Round two of the Hospital Engagement Networks will continue to work to develop learning collaboratives for hospitals and provide a wide array of initiatives and activities to improve patient safety. The activities of the Hospital Engagement Networks will be closely monitored by CMS to ensure that they are generating results and improving patient safety.

SOURCE Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety