WSHA’s record of success in collaborative quality improvement will continue, thanks to the award of a federal contract to make major improvements in 17 key patient-safety topics and reduce harm and overall cost of health care. WSHA was one of just 17 awarded nationally to take part in this work.
Partnership for Patients will help accelerate the identification and sharing of best practices with the goal to reduce all-cause harm (that is, harm to a patient receiving medical care from any cause or source). A total of 96 hospitals in Washington, Alaska and Oregon will be collaborating with WSHA in this work.
“Working with CMS in the first round of Partnership for Patients, we saved 23,000 patients from harm and reduced $235 million in health care spending,” said Carol Wagner, WSHA’s Senior Vice President for Patient Safety. “There is more to be done. We’re determined to drive preventable harm down to zero.”
WSHA’s patient safety program started more than 10 years ago as part of the 100,000 Lives campaign. In December 2011, WSHA received the first Partnership for Patients contract; two years later, CMS also gave WSHA a Leading Edge Advanced Practice Topics (LEAPT) contract, which was received by only five other organizations in the country.
