CommunityConnections: 2005 Spring Edition newsletter - The Colorado Trust

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT

The Colorado Trust will provide support for all Colorado hospitals to participate in the innovative 100k Lives Campaign. A national effort just getting under way, the 100k Lives Campaign was developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement with the goal of reducing deaths by 100,000 over an 18-month period.

According to the Institute of Medicine, nearly 100,000 people die each year in U.S. hospitals solely as a result of medical errors or injuries; and The Centers for Disease Control estimates that two million patients contract hospital-acquired infections annually. As a result, the United States spends more money on health care than all advanced industrialized nations, yet performs more poorly than most on several measures of health care quality.

The campaign seeks to enlist 2,000 hospitals across the country in a commitment to implement changes in care that have been proven to prevent avoidable deaths. The six evidence-based interventions being focused on are:

1. Deploy rapid response teams at the first sign of patient decline.
2. Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction to prevent deaths from heart attack.
3. Prevent adverse drug events by implementing medication reconciliation.
4. Prevent central line infections by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.
5. Prevent surgical site infections by reliably delivering the correct perioperative care.
6. Prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.

A listing of other participating cities and regions, and additional information about IHI's 100,000 Lives Campaign is available at www.ihi.org. Additional information about The Trust's quality improvement campaign will be made available soon, or you may contact Laurel Petralia, Program Officer, The Colorado Trust, at laurel@coloradotrust.org or 303-837-1200.