Checklists available for PfP program
The Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA), has created a series of checklists as part of the Partnership for Patients (PfP) campaign of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that, if implemented, might help reduce patient harm by 40% and unplanned hospital readmission rates by up to 20%.
The HRET/AHA initiative includes more than 1,600 hospitals in 34 states that participate in webinars and other intensive training initiatives that focus on 10 areas deemed to have the potential for the most impact. They are:
• Adverse drug events (ADE)
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
• Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI)
• Injuries from falls and immobility
• Obstetrical adverse events
• Pressure ulcers
• Surgical-site infections
• Venous thromboembolism (VTE)
• Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
• Preventable readmissions
The collaborative also provides technical assistance in implementing quality measurement goals and systems for tracking progress toward them. It includes a fellowship program to help build "a cadre of quality improvement leaders across the country" who can design, test, and spread interventions through their hospitals. So far, more than 900 people have taken part in the program, which is offered in Chicago, Denver, Orlando, and California.
The checklists are available at http://www.hpoe.org/resources/hpoehretaha-guides/1398. Further information on other aspects of the Partnership for Patients program and AHA-affiliated educational opportunities can be found at http://www.hret-hen.org/events.
