Ten years ago, Ohio's eight children's hospitals developed a plan to improve patient safety — and the hospitals have saved an estimated $173 million, The Columbus Dispatch reports.
The initiative, called the Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety, now includes a network of over 135 pediatric hospitals in North America.
Hospitals in the network share data and ideas to curb hospital-acquired infections and other patient risks, including allergic reactions to medicine.
From January 2011 to September 2018, the rate of surgical-site infections at member hospitals fell 31.2 percent, from about 3.25 per 100 procedures to 1.72, according to the group.
Additionally, the rate of adverse drug events decreased 63.9 percent over that time, from 0.08 per 1,000 patient days to 0.02. The number of patient falls leading to at least moderate injury dropped 79.5 percent, from 0.11 per 1,000 patient days to 0.019, the group said.
"All of us got into healthcare because we want to make sure we do all we can to improve the lives of children," said Steve Allen, MD, CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Children's Hospital. "They happen to be very low-frequency events, but preventable harm to even one child is one child too many."