PSMF Awards Five-Star Ranking to Three Hospitals

On the first World Patient Safety Day, the Patient SafetyMovement Foundation (PSMF) announced that it has awarded Dignity Health,MedStar Health and the UPMC with its five-star ranking for making commitmentsin alignment with PSMF’s 18 evidence-based Actionable Patient Safety Solutions(APSS). APSS include solutions designed to help hospitals eliminate preventablepatient deaths, which are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

“More than 200,000 patients die from preventable hospitalerrors in the U.S., and 4.8 million across the globe. Those numbers are simplynot acceptable but also unthinkable,” said Dr. David Mayer, PSMF CEO. “Our5-Star ranking acknowledges the commitment these organizations have made toachieve ZERO preventable deaths. The leadership demonstrated by these leadersis a model others can follow in instituting best practices in patient care.”

Dignity Health is the largest hospital provider inCalifornia with 39 hospitals, and part of the newly formed CommonSpirit Health.Robert Wiebe, MD, chief medical officer for CommonSpirit Health, comments: “DignityHealth has been working to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes becausewe know what’s at stake—how critical this work is to the people who come to usfor care. We and other health systems strive to achieve zero preventabledeaths, which is why we’ve implemented the APSS and many other initiatives.”

In keeping with the goals of the PSMF, Dignity Health has improvedcompliance with and adoption of the sepsis bundle and reduced sepsis mortality;reduced hypoglycemia events, hospital acquired infections, opioid inducedrespiratory depression, and unnecessary cesarean sections for low riskdeliveries; and achieved nearly full adoption of CANDOR across all DignityHealth hospitals and ambulatory settings.

With 10 regional hospitals in Baltimore/Washington DC,MedStar Health earned its ranking for its role in the development of APSS inthe areas of Culture of Safety, Falls and Fall Prevention, Patient and FamilyEngagement, Patient Safety Education and Early Detection of Sepsis.

Since implementing its patient safety improvement efforts,aligned with the PSMF APSS, MedStar Health has reduced the number of seriouspatient safety events, the number of healthcare-associated infections, and thecost of care associated with serious safety events; increased and improvedfront-line reporting of events, and improved the early detection and treatmentof sepsis.

“As we continually find ways to improve patient safety andclinical outcomes, we look to extend these practices to other healthcaresystems around the world,” said Stephen R. T. Evans, MedStar health executive vicepresident, Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer.

UPMC, one of the nation’s largest integrated payor-providersystems, includes more than 40 hospitals and 700 doctors’ offices andoutpatient sites. UPMC has developed new models of accountable, cost-effective,patient-centered care. This focus aligns with PSMF APSS.

“Our mission is to consistently provide high-quality, safeand compassionate patient experiences,” said Tami Minnier, UPMC chief qualityofficer. “We strive to be leaders in continually improving quality and safetythrough education, best practices, leadership development and innovation.”

That approach has resulted in significant quality and safety improvements for the health system, including a reduction in central line associated blood stream and C. diff infections, a 9 percent decrease in sepsis-related mortality, a nearly 30 percent increase in system-wide hand hygiene compliance, and a 29 percent reduction in wasted blood products, thanks to a reduction in non-evidence based transfusions.

More than 4,600 hospitals in 46 countries have implementedthe Actionable Patient Safety Solutions developed by the Patient SafetyMovement Foundation’s workgroups.