Foundation selected as subcontractor to continue patient safety improvements

The DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) Foundation has been selected as a subcontractor of the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) of the American Hospital Association, one of 16 national, regional, or state hospital associations, Quality Improvement Organizations, and health system organizations to continue efforts in reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions. The Hospital Improvement Innovation Network contracts awarded build upon the collective momentum of the Hospital Engagement Networks and Quality Improvement Organizations to reduce patient harm and readmissions. This announcement is part of a broader effort to transform our health care system into one that works better for the American people and for the Medicare program.

“Our mission at the DFWHC Foundation has always been to assist in the continuous improvement of patient safety and quality,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “It’s not only a great honor, but a great responsibility to be working with HRET on this initiative. This work can only help the patients of Texas which, in turn, helps the hospitals of Texas. We are looking forward to focusing on patient safety.”

Through 2019, these Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks will work to achieve a 20 percent decrease in overall patient harm and a 12 percent reduction in 30-day hospital readmissions as a population-based measure (readmissions per 1,000 people) from the 2014 baseline. Efforts to address health equity for Medicare beneficiaries will be central to the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks efforts. CMS will monitor and evaluate the activities of the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks to ensure that they are generating results and improving patient safety.

“We have made significant progress in keeping patients safe – an estimated 2.1 million fewer patients harmed, 87,000 lives saved, and nearly $20 billion in cost-savings from 2010 to 2014 – and we are focused on accelerating improvement efforts,” said Patrick Conway, M.D., CMS acting principal deputy administrator and chief medical officer. “The work of the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks will allow us to continue to improve health care safety across the nation and reduce readmissions at a national scale – keeping people as safe and healthy as possible.”

The 16 organizations (listed in alphabetical order) receiving contracts in the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks are:
• Carolinas Healthcare System
• Dignity Health
• Healthcare Association of New York State
• HealthInsight
• The Health Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association
• Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey
• Health Services Advisory Group
• The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
• Iowa Healthcare Collaborative
• Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Health Foundation
• Minnesota Hospital Association
• Ohio Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety
• Ohio Hospital Association
• Premier, Inc.
• Vizient, Inc.
• Washington State Hospital Association

The Partnership for Patients model is one of the first models established in 2011 to be tested under the authority of section 1115A of the Social Security Act (the Act) with the goal of reducing program expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care. Since the launch of the Partnership for Patients and the work of Hospital Engagement Networks in collaboration with many other stakeholders, the vast majority of U.S. hospitals have delivered results as demonstrated by the achievement of unprecedented national reductions in harm. CMS believes that the upcoming work of the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks, working as part of the Quality Improvement Organization’s work to improve patient safety and the quality of care in the Medicare program, will continue the great strides made in improving care provided to beneficiaries.

For more information on the Partnership for Patients and the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks, please visit: partnershipforpatients.cms.gov.

For information at the DFWHC Foundation, please contact Patti Taylor at ptaylor@dfwhcfoundation.org.