About 400 hospitals in California have agreed to participate in a federal initiative to improve patient care quality, the Long Beach Business Journal reports (Ablaza, Long Beach Business Journal, 1/23).
Initiative Details
CMS is operating the program, called "Partnership for Patients."
Participating hospitals will seek to meet two patient care benchmarks:
- Reducing hospital-acquired conditions -- such as infections -- by 40% this year, compared with 2010 rates; and
- Reducing preventable complications related to the transfer of patients from an acute care hospital to a skilled nursing facility or a similar facility by 20% this year, compared with 2010 rates.
CMS has allocated more than $200 million to help hospitals meet the benchmarks.
Implications for California
The benchmark for cutting hospital-acquired conditions could lead to 175,000 fewer incidents in California hospitals and could save about 5,500 lives, according to Payers & Providers.
The second benchmark could reduce hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge by about 155,000.
C. Duane Dauner -- president of the California Hospital Association -- said, "The fact that hundreds of hospitals throughout the state have voluntarily embraced both the 'Partnership for Patients' initiative and a variety of other regional and statewide patient safety programs signifies the priority hospitals are placing on continuous quality improvement" (Payers & Providers, 1/24).