CMS Hopes $500 Million Program Will Yield Fast, Dramatic Safety Improvements

The CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has released a pre-solicitation for a first round of funding under the $500 million Partnership for Patients initiative announced in April to quickly and dramatically increase patient safety.


The CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has released a pre-solicitation for a first round of funding under the $500 million Partnership for Patients initiative announced in April to quickly and dramatically increase patient safety.

Authorized and funded under the Affordable Care Act, the partnership is designed to reduce harmful events in hospitals by 40 percent and cut readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2013 (see story). The initiative seeks to contract with delivery systems, hospitals, other providers, associations and state organizations to redesign care processes to reduce harm.

In addition to reducing readmissions, those in the partnership are asked to initially focus on nine specific safety issues:

* Adverse drug events,

* Catheter-associated urinary tract infections,

* Central line associated blood stream infections,

* Injuries from falls and immobility,

* Obstetrical adverse events,

* Pressure ulcers,

* Surgical site infections,

* Venous thromboembolism, and

* Ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Partnership for Patients is half of a two-prong $1 billion health reform law effort to improve care safety and quality. The $500 million Community-based Care Transitions demonstration program seeks to ensure patient safety when transitioning from one setting of care to another.

CMS will host a Web seminar, limited to 200 lines, on July 6 to explain a Partnership for Patients pre-solicitation.

 

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