Getting to Zero

Progress is encouraging; continuous progress promises a better future. Between 2010 and 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 87,000 fewer patients died in hospitals and almost $20 billion in health care costs were saved because of patient safety efforts in hospitals. That translates to a 17% reduction in the number of hospital-acquired conditions. While our objective is to get to zero, this represents strong progress to reaching that goal. That’s because hospitals have been actively engaged in a number of national quality improvement projects, such as those to reduce CLABSIs and CAUTIs. We are also extremely proud that AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust has worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 34 state hospital associations and 1,600 hospitals to convene the largest hospital engagement network and that their work was recently funded for another year. These results are another milestone on our journey to providing the best care possible for patients and communities.