Cardinal Health, Inc. Challenge Spurs Public and Rural Hospitals to Join IHI's 5 Million Lives Campaign with $500,000 in Grant Money
DUBLIN, Ohio, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To increase the number of rural and public hospitals participating in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) 5 Million Lives Campaign, the Cardinal Health Foundation announced today it is granting up to $500,000 to hospitals that enroll and report their data to IHI. Hospitals would receive up to $15,000 each to help defray costs associated with implementing IHI initiatives, aimed at protecting patients from five million incidents of medical harm over two years (December 2006 - December 2008).
The National Rural Health Association and the National Association of Public Hospitals and HealthSystems will administer the grants. Both groups will oversee the application process and review grant applications.
"The Cardinal Health Foundation is one of the leading sponsors of both the 5 Million Lives campaign and our earlier 100,000 Lives Campaign," said Joe McCannon, IHI vice president and Campaign manager. "We are so very grateful for their generous assistance which will help many more hospitals take part in this important endeavor."
To be eligible for the grants, hospitals must not yet be enrolled in the IHI Campaign. Once enrolled, hospitals will be expected to identify the interventions they will adopt, submit relevant data to the IHI and share their experiences, ideas and outcomes with other Campaign participants.
The 5 Million Lives Campaign asks hospitals to rapidly adopt evidence- based care processes with the potential to prevent 5 million incidents of medical harm over a 24-month period. There is no cost for hospitals to join, but there is an obligation to adopt at least one intervention. Hospitals are also expected to submit monthly mortality data to assist in tracking overall harm reduction during the initiative. This campaign builds on the success of the 100,000 Lives Campaign, which involved 3,100 hospitals that worked to improve patient safety and reduce inpatient deaths.
"Today the IHI and its partners mark the six-month milestone of the 5 Million Lives Campaign with the first National Action Day," said Debra Hadley, executive director of the Cardinal Health Foundation. "IHI aims to enlist 4,000 hospitals in this campaign, which adds six new areas of focus to its safety initiative. This Campaign aligns very well with our mission to help make health care safer and improve quality. We want to do our part to ensure that as many hospitals as possible can participate."
The centerpiece of IHI's National Action Day is an online, interactive meeting where campaign participants receive free, practical, results-oriented advice for implementing evidence-based clinical protocols and culture changes recommended by IHI. The sessions offer strategies to achieve lasting results faster and more reliably on all 12 Campaign interventions.
Interventions in the "5 Million Lives Campaign" include: -- Prevent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection by reliably implementing scientifically proven infection control practices throughout the hospital. -- Reduce harm from high-alert medications starting with a focus on anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin. -- Reduce surgical complications by reliably implementing the changes in care recommended by the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP). -- Prevent pressure ulcers by reliably using science-based guidelines for prevention of this serious and common complication. -- Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for congestive heart failure. -- Define and spread new and leveraged processes for hospital boards, so that they can become far more effective in accelerating the improvement of care. -- Deploy rapid response teams at the first sign of patient decline and before a catastrophic cardiac or respiratory event. -- Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction to prevent deaths from heart attack. -- Prevent adverse drug events by reconciling patient medications at every transition point in care. -- Prevent central line infections by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps. -- Prevent surgical site infections by following a series of steps, including reliable, timely administration of correct perioperative antibiotics. -- Prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.
About the Cardinal Health Foundation
Supported by the global resources of Cardinal Health (www.cardinalhealth.com), including more than 40,000 employees around the world, the Cardinal Health Foundation is the focal point of the company's community relations' efforts. The Foundation's mission is to advance and fund regional and national programs that improve access to and delivery of quality health care services. With annual revenues of $80 billion and operations on five continents, Cardinal Health serves the health-care industry with products and services that help hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies reduce costs, improve safety, productivity and profitability, and deliver better care to patients.
Cardinal Health, Inc.
CONTACT: Donna Gaidamak of Cardinal Health, Inc., +1-847-578-4434,donna.gaidamak@cardinal.com
Web site: http://www.cardinalhealth.com//