North Carolina Center for
Hospital Quality and Patient Safety

Hospital Engagement Network

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NCHA Hospital Engagement Network

In April 2011 the federal government, in order to help improve the quality, safety, and affordability of health care for all Americans, launched the Partnership for Patients. The Partnership for Patients brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses and patient advocates along with state and federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable and less costly.

The two goals of the Partnership are:

• By the end of 2013, decrease preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40% compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients with more than 60,000 lives saved over three years.


• By the end of 2013, decrease all hospital readmissions by 20% compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean more than 1.6 million patients would recover from illness without suffering a preventable complication requiring re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge.

Achieving these goals has the potential to save up to $35 billion across the health care system, including up to $10 billion in Medicare savings, over the next three years. Over the next ten years, it could reduce costs to Medicare by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings.

Although the Partnership for Patients focuses on reducing all harm, CMS has identified 10 initial areas of focus:

• Adverse drug events
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
• Central line-associated blood stream infections
• Injuries from falls and immobility
• Obstetrical adverse events
• Pressure Ulcers
• Surgical Site infections
• Venous Thromboembolism
• Ventilator-associated pneumonia
• Preventable readmissions

Hospital Engagement Networks (HEN) will provide intensive assistance to hospitals by designing and conducting various training events and learning sessions. For more information on the NCHA HEN please contact Katie Heineman at kheineman@ncha.org or at 919-677-4123.

85 hospitals have joined the Hospital Engagement Network: