63,000 U.S. Lives Saved to Date in 100,000 Lives Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Emilie Fennell
(512) 334-1649
efennell@txqio.sdps.org
1-800-725-9216
(May 15, 2006—AUSTIN, TX)—Did you know that as many as 98,000 lives are lost in our nation’s hospitals every year due to preventable adverse events? Did you know that 3,000 U.S. hospitals, including 140 Texas hospitals, are taking part in the Institute for Healthcare improvement (IHI) national campaign to save 100,000 lives between January 2005 and June 14, 2006?
As of April 1, an estimate shows that 63,233 lives have been saved.
“The 100,000 Lives Campaign challenges the health care industry to make necessary improvements in the care provided to patients,” said William G. Gamel, M.D., CEO of TMF Health Quality Institute, the Texas based nonprofit health care consulting company. “We are proud to partner with IHI on such an important topic.”
The Campaign is the first-ever national campaign to promote saving a specified number of lives in hospitals by a certain date through the implementation of proven, evidence-based, practices and procedures.
On May 12, TMF hosted a one-day workshop, “Sharing Best Practices in Patient Safety,” where Texas hospitals got an exclusive update about the Campaign and shared their own campaign success stories.
Diane Jacobsen, MPH, CPHQ, director at IHI discussed IHI’s experience with the Campaign. “Hospitals taking part in this Campaign are demonstrating that rapid improvement in health care—driven not solely by regulation or incentive, but by the commitment and spirit of health care providers—is entirely possible. Their tremendous effort has yielded improvement on a scale previously unimagined in the American health care system, and has introduced a new standard of care.”
Participating hospitals and their medical and clinical staffs have implemented some or all of six life-saving best practices that have been proven to significantly improve health care quality and safety and reduce mortality. The interventions include:
- Deploying rapid response teams at the first sign of patient decline;
- Delivering evidence-based care for patients with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack);
- Implementing medication reconciliation – listing and evaluating all of a patient’s drugs to prevent adverse events;
- Preventing surgical site infection and related deaths by reliably implementing a set of recommended interventions in all surgical patients;
- Preventing central venous catheter-related blood stream infection and related deaths by implementing a set of recommended interventions in all patients requiring a central line; and
- Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia and related deaths and other complications in patients on ventilators by reliably implementing a set of recommended interventions.
Jacobsen also discussed what’s next for the Campaign after its June 14th milestone. “After we celebrate on June 14, participants are expected to fully spread the Campaign’s improvement interventions and sustain the performance gains they have already achieved.” In addition, IHI will be working with experts to explore new areas for improvement that it will share with its participants.
“Hospitals are not only demonstrating a dedication to saving lives during the 100,000 Lives Campaign,” said Dr. Donald Berwick, president and CEO of IHI. “They are also implementing important changes in health care delivery that will reduce preventable illness and death beyond the Campaign’s June 2006 milestone.”
About TMF Health Quality Institute
TMF Health Quality Institute, formerly Texas Medical Foundation, is an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit consulting company focused on promoting quality health and health care through contracts with federal, state and local governments, as well as private organizations. TMF partners with health care providers in a variety of settings to ensure that every person receives the appropriate care, every time.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, MA, IHI is a catalyst for change, cultivating innovative concepts for improving patient care and implementing programs for putting those ideas into action. Thousands of health care providers, including many of the finest hospitals in the world, participate in IHI’s groundbreaking work.