Speical Feature
Partnership For Patients to Improve Care and Lower Costs for Americans
New partnership between Administration, the private sector, hospitals and doctors to make care safer, potentially save up to $50 billion
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, joined by leaders of major hospitals, employers, health plans, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates, recently announced the Partnership for Patients, a new national partnership that will help save 60,000 lives by stopping millions of preventable injuries and complications in patient care over the next three years. The Partnership for Patients also has the potential to save up to $35 bil‐ lion in health care costs, including up to $10 billion for Medicare. Over the next ten years, the Partnership for Patients could reduce costs to Medicare by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings. Already, more than 500 hospitals, as well as physicians and nurses groups, con‐ sumer groups, and employers have pledged their commitment to the new initiative.
“Americans go the hospital to get well, but millions of patients are injured because of preventable complications and accidents,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Working closely with hospi‐ tals, doctors, nurses, patients, families and employers, we will support efforts
40 EMS PRO Magazine
to help keep patients safe, improve care, and reduce costs. Working together, we can help eliminate pre‐ ventable harm to patients.”
Today, leaders from across the nation pledged their commitment to this new initiative. To launch this initia‐ tive, HHS announced it would invest up to $1 billion in federal funding, made available under the Affordable Care Act. Today, $500 million of that fund‐ ing was made available through the Community‐based Care Transitions Program. Up to $500 million more will be dedicated from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center to support new demonstrations related to reducing hospital‐acquired conditions. The fund‐ ing will be invested in reforms that help achieve two shared goals:
Keep hospital patients from getting injured or sicker. By the end of 2013, preventable hospital‐acquired condi‐ tions would decrease by 40‐percent compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients, with more than 60,000 lives saved over the next three years.
Help patients heal without complica‐ tion. By the end of 2013, preventable complications during a transition from one care setting to another would be decreased so that all hospital readmis‐ sions would be reduced by 20‐percent compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean more than 1.6 million patients will recover from illness with‐ out suffering a preventable complica‐ tion requiring re‐hospitalization within 30 days of discharge.
The Partnership will target all forms of harm to patients but will start by ask‐ ing hospitals to focus on nine types of medical errors and complications where the potential for dramatic reduc‐ tions in harm rates has been demon‐ strated by pioneering hospitals and sys‐ tems across the country. Examples include preventing adverse drug reac‐ tions, pressure ulcers, childbirth com‐ plications and surgical site infections. The CMS Innovation Center will help hospitals adapt effective, evidence‐ based care improvements to target preventable patient injuries on a local level, developing innovative approach‐ es to spreading and sharing strategies among public and private partners in all
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