In its first year, Patient Safety First…a California Partnership for Health, reports that it has helped save 800 lives by working to prevent sepsis-related deaths. Launched in 2010, Patient Safety First is a groundbreaking three-year, $6-million collaboration between the National Health Foundation, California’s Regional Hospital Associations, and Anthem Blue Cross to improve the consistency and quality of health care for Californians.

“Patient Safety First is one of the most challenging and potentially rewarding endeavors ever undertaken in the health care system,” said Dr. Eugene Grigsby, president of the National Health Foundation, which verified the initial outcomes of the initiative. “It strives to engage California hospitals in learning collaborations with the specific goal of improving patient safety and cost savings for those needing hospitalization.”

The initiative, which brings together more than 160 participating hospitals from across the state, has led to:

• A 41 percent reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP);
• A 25 percent reduction in central line blood stream infections (CLBSI);
• A 24 percent reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI); and
• A reduction in birth traumas and elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks gestation.

Early data suggest the Patient Safety First initiative in California has already resulted in a cost-avoidance of more than $11 million. This is money that would have been used to care for patients who would have developed sepsis and other hospital-acquired infections if they had not been able to avoid illness as a result of the shared learning made possible by the collaboration.

More than 1,600 participating clinicians and health care industry professionals have shared best practices that lead to safety and quality improvements through Patient Safety First.

Partners for Patient Safety First…a California Partnership for Health include:

• The National Health Foundation
• Anthem Blue Cross
• The three regional hospital associations of California: Southern California, San Diego & Imperial Counties, and Northern & Central California