HHS’ new $1 Billion Patient Safety Initiative announced April 12
The news is about the medical errors in health care that are NOT occurring as a result of patient safety improvement efforts. Efforts to reduce medical errors are to be applauded. Read more below.
The values and principles inherent in health care, and the initiatives undertaken to improve health care are incredibly important to saving lives and the bottom line, which currently shows medical errors costing an estimated $5 billion a year in the US.
Partnering for Patients, a new DHHS initiative, launched in April, will invest up to $1 billion into patient safety initiatives with an initial focus on two objectives:
- Reduce hospital acquired conditions by 40% by 2013 causing a reduction of 1.8 million fewer negative outcomes and saving sixty thousand lives.
- Reduce preventable complications during a patient’s transition from one care setting to another, reducing hospital re-admissions by 20% by 2013, allowing 1.6 million patients to recover without a return to the hospital.
The Missouri Center for Patient Safety (MOCPS) has signed up in support of the Partnering for Patients initiative.
