A report from the National Health Foundation announced that Patient Safety First, a three-year campaign run by a collaborative of California hospitals, has saved more than $60 million and prevented more than 3,500 deaths through healthcare-associated infection reduction.
Patient Safety First began in 2010 and was funded by Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Anthem Blue Cross.
Campaign steps included better patient mouth hygiene, documenting care-delivery steps, cutting unnecessary procedures, following checklists, sterilizing equipment and washing hands.
Among the 40 hospitals that consistently reported data, ventilator-associated pneumonia decreased by 57 percent, catheter-associated urinary tract infections decreased by 24 percent, sepsis mortality decreased by 26 percent and central line-associated bloodstream infections decreased by 43 percent.
The report emphasized that results from Patient Safety First show that following these steps with diverse hospitals is possible and has been successful.
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