Hospitals recognized for innovation and quality improvement
Four Kansas hospitals received recognition for their leadership and achievement in quality improvement and patient safety by the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative (KHC). The awards were sponsored by the KaMMCO Foundation and presented at the KHC’s annual educational event, Summit on Quality, Friday, May 6.
Reducing preventable harm
A national collaboration between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, many state hospital associations and numerous individual hospitals, has resulted in a notable reduction in hospital preventable harm since 2011. Patients have experienced 2.1 million fewer incidents of harm, an estimated 87,000 deaths prevented and $20 billion saved in health care costs between 2011 and 2014.
Read more about the national efforts to improve patient safety and the Partnership for Patients initiative in The New York Times article, "Reducing Preventable Harm", published Jan. 26, 2016. Part 2 is titled: "Hospitals Focus on Doing No Harm", published February 2, 2016.
Kansas hospital survey: Flu vaccine coverage among health care workers continues to rise
More than 9 out of 10 Kansas health care workers are protecting themselves and their patients from the flu by receiving the influenza vaccination. According to the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative, its statewide survey of Kansas hospitals indicates 92.3 percent of health care workers were immunized during the 2015-16 flu season, compared to 91.0 percent in 2014-15.
The survey of 141 Kansas hospitals included all groups of health care workers, including hospital staff, physicians, students, volunteers and others, such as licensed independent practitioners and contractors who work within the hospital setting. All but four hospitals responded to the KHC’s eighth annual survey for a 96.5 percent response rate.