By reducing early elective deliveries and hospital-acquired infections, Patient Safety First (PSF)… a California Partnership for Health avoided 3,576 deaths and more than $63 million in otherwise unnecessary hospital costs between 2009 and 2012, the collaborative announced in its year-end report.

PSF is a statewide collaborative between the Hospital Council of Northern & Central California, the Hospital Association of Southern California, the Hospital Association of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Anthem Blue Cross, National Health Foundation and California hospitals. The group’s mission is to improve quality and reduce health care costs across the state.

Since the inception of the collaborative in 2010, PSF member hospitals have shown significant improvement in four important hospital-based avoidable harm initiatives: sepsis mortality, ventilator associated pneumonia, central line blood stream infections and perinatal gestational age deliveries under 39 weeks. More specifically, approximately 40 hospitals consistently reported before and after data, and their results show:

• A 74% reduction in early elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks gestational age
• A 57% reduction in cases of ventilator associated pneumonia
• A 43% reduction in cases of central line blood stream infections
• A 26% reduction in sepsis mortality

“This three-year Patient Safety First program demonstrates that when over 180 hospitals identify a problem, utilize a common database and work collaboratively to make hospitals safer, significant progress can be made,” said J. Eugene Grigsby, III, president/CEO of National Health Foundation. “Particularly impressive is that these outcomes have been achieved in spite of the fact that participating hospitals are extremely diverse; large and small, not-for profit and for profit, sectarian and non-sectarian, independent or in systems and geographically dispersed throughout California.” 

The deaths and costs avoided were calculated by comparing all population data from 2012 to baseline data provided by the same hospitals in 2009.

PSF is distinctive in that it brings together a health plan, hospital associations, a nonprofit organization and private and public hospitals as partners in an effort to improve care, health outcomes and reduce health care costs. The collaborative is open to both hospitals in and outside of Anthem’s network, and because the improvements are made at the hospital level, benefits are not exclusive to Anthem members.

Download a copy of the report.

Contact: Jennifer Bayer
(213) 538-0730, jbayer@hasc.org