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Catholic Health Joins in New York’s Partnership for Patients

May 2012

In 2011, the Federal Government launched the Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs, a new public-private partnership designed to help improve the quality, safety, and affordability of healthcare.

The Partnership for Patients brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates along with state and federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable, and less costly.

The two goals of this new partnership are to:

Keep Patients from Getting Injured or Sicker

By the end of 2013, preventable hospital acquired conditions would decrease by 40% compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients with more than 60,000 lives saved over three years.

Help Patients Heal Without Complication

By the end of 2013, preventable complications during a transition from one care setting to another would be decreased so that all hospital readmissions would be reduced by 20% compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean more than 1.6 million patients would recover from illness without suffering a preventable complication requiring re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge.

As part of this national effort, Catholic Health has joined New York State Partnership for Patients (NYSPFP), a statewide initiative involving more than 170 hospitals in activities aimed at reducing hospital complications and preventable readmissions.

Tool to Measure Quality Improvement and Safety Efforts

“New York State Partnership for Patients is another tool to measure as well as bolster our quality improvement and patient safety efforts,” said Joe McDonald, president & CEO of Catholic Health. “We already have very active Quality and Patient Safety Departments in each of our ministries that will support the work we are doing with our state partners.”

NYSPFP is a joint project of the Healthcare Association of New York State and the Greater New York Hospital Association. The partnership will provide participating hospitals with technical assistance, training opportunities and educational programming to build on existing quality improvement programs.

“These initiatives include measures we are already focusing on in our hospitals to enhance safety and improve clinical outcomes for our patients,” said John Kane, vice president of Quality and Patient Safety for Catholic Health. “The central message here is that improving quality and safety is a team effort that will involve hospital staff at all levels, including clinical, administrative and support personnel.”

Survey on Patient Safety Culture

To kick-off its participation, Catholic Health asked all hospital staff and physician leaders to participate in a comprehensive survey on patient safety culture.

The results of the survey will help raise awareness about patient safety among hospital staff, identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, and evaluate the success of initiative designed to improve care, enhance safety, and reduce preventable readmissions.

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Physician Resource

This article is appeared in the May 2012 edition of Physician Resource, a quarterly publication for Catholic Health physicians that delivers information about the practice of medicine at Catholic Health and the resources, initiatives and programs available to physicians.

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