Hospital patient safety efforts over past year have improved care for more than 34,000 patients and saved nearly $300 million

Hospitals continue to make great progress in their journey to improve patient care, according to new results released today by the American Hospital Association (AHA)/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). Over the past year, the project, part of a national performance improvement project sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), helped hospitals reduce early elective deliveries, blood clots and infections, preventing more than 34,000 incidents with an associated cost savings of nearly $300 million.

As part of the federal Partnership for Patients initiative, the second round of the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN 2.0) project’s goals were to reduce harm by 40 percent and readmissions by 20 percent. The AHA/HRET HEN 2.0 comprises 34 participating states and U.S. Territories and more than 1,500 hospitals. The program has helped the hospital field develop the infrastructure, expertise and organizational culture that will support further improvements for years to come.

Some highlights, relative to the ending rates from the first HEN program, show:

• Early-elective deliveries rates decreased by 44 percent;
• Post-operative Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) dropped by 34 percent; and
• Surgical site infections dropped by 21 percent.

“Improving care is a never-ending march toward perfection, and no number of accolades will slow that march,” said Rick Pollack, AHA president and CEO. “Patients have high expectations about the care hospitals provide, and getting to zero patient safety incidents is the goal of every hospital. Continued progress will be made as hospitals share what they learned through the HEN project with the rest of the field.”

The HEN 2.0 project built upon the success of the initial HEN project, which prevented more than 92,000 hospital-acquired conditions and saved nearly $1 billion in avoided health care costs over a three-year period from January 2012 through November 2014.

For more information on the project and to view the report, visit http://www.hret-hen.org or www.hret.org.

Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET)

Founded in 1944, the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) is the not‐for‐profit research and education affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA). HRET’s mission is to transform health care through research and education. HRET’s applied research seeks to create new knowledge, tools, and assistance in improving the delivery of health care by providers in the communities they serve. For more information about HRET, visit www.hret.org.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.