HASC and Patient Safety First…A California Partnership for Health have received national recognition for improving quality and patient safety. The National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission announced the 2013 recipients of the annual John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality at the National Level went to Patient Safety First…a California Partnership for Health, a collaborative of Anthem Blue Cross, National Health Foundation, Hospital Association of Southern California, Hospital Association of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and the Hospital Council of Northern & Central California. The four awards will be presented on Feb. 13, 2014, during a luncheon at the 2014 NQF Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The goals of the Patient Safety First…a California Partnership for Health initiative included driving improvement in perinatal care, sepsis, and hospital acquired infections. The initiative leveraged peer‐to‐peer regional learning networks to accelerate adoption of best practices and strategies for improvement. Phase one results showed that 182 hospitals were engaged, and more than 3,500 lives and $63 million have been saved. Building upon phase one successes, Anthem Blue Cross invested another $1.8 million to roll out phase two of the collaborative in 2013.

The 2013 winners represent numerous achievements in the field of patient safety and quality, including: prevention of more than 5,400 readmissions; system-wide engagement to reduce medical errors; an adverse patient-safety event that catalyzed an important and successful quality transformation; and an individual’s lifetime achievement in the field of patient safety and quality.

The other honorees for national, local-level, and individual recognition are: Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality at the National Level – Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Bloomington, MN, Minnesota Hospital Association, St. Paul, MN, and Stratis Health, Bloomington, MN; Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality at the Local Level – Vidant Health, Greenville, NC; and Individual Achievement – Gail L. Warden, President Emeritus of Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI.

The May 2014 issue of “The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety” also will feature the achievements of each of the award recipients. The patient safety awards program (http://www.qualityforum.org/eisenberg_award/), launched in 2002 by NQF and The Joint Commission, honors John M. Eisenberg, MD, MBA, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Contact: Julia Slininger
(213) 538-0766, jslininger@hasc.org