Progress to Celebrate

Saving an estimated 50,000 lives and $12 billion in health care costs is something to celebrate.  Congratulations to the 3,700 acute-care hospitals that have participated in one of the Hospital Engagement Networks (HENs) that are part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Partnership for Patients. You are a big reason that, between 2010 and 2013, hospital-acquired conditions fell by an impressive 17%, according to a report (http://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/professionals/quality-patient-safety/pfp/hacrate2013.pdf) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on the national HAC rate for Partnership for Patients measures. Adverse drug events (down 44%), pressure ulcers (down 21%) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (down 14%) are just some of the areas of improvement. Congratulations, too, to AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust, one of 17 organizations recently selected (http://news.aha.org/article/150925-ahahret-selected-to-continue-hospital-engagement-network) to continue its HEN for another year.