Two-Year Project Improves Patient Safety
in Michigan Hospital ICUs; BCHS Among the Leaders
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Battle Creek Health System was recently
honored as one of the leaders in the Michigan Keystone ICU Project for reducing
medical errors and improving patient safety. Leading the BCHS Keystone program
are (L-R) Joe McBride, Annette Berning, Carole Harman, and Dr. Raakesh Bhan,
medical director of Critical Care. |
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Michigan hospital intensive care units (ICUs) are safer
today following a two-year project to reduce medical errors
and improve patient safety directed by the state’s
hospital association and The Johns Hopkins University
Quality & Safety Research Group. Battle Creek Health
System is one of the state’s leaders in safety.
Results of the project were announced recently by leaders
of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s
(MHA) Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality
and patient safety experts from Johns Hopkins. Keystone:
ICU is believed to be the largest patient safety collaborative
of its kind anywhere in the world, with more than 120
Michigan ICUs and 70 Michigan hospitals participating
of which Battle Creek Health System is part.
The results were shared at a conference for Michigan
business leaders, state lawmakers, and hospitals leaders.
Using a predictive model and data collected from project
participants between March 2004 and June 2005, the total
savings in the 15-month span were:
- Patient Lives Saved - 1,578*
- Hospital Days Saved - 81,020*
- Health Care Dollars Saved - $165,534,736*
“As a result of Keystone: ICU, medical
errors are being avoided, and lives and health care
costs are being saved,” said Dr. Raakesh Bhan,
medical director of Critical Care at Battle Creek Health
System and leader of the local project. “Improving
health care safety at the bedside benefits all patients
and the governments, employers, and workers that pay
for health care services. Battle Creek Health System
along with other Michigan hospitals is proud to be at
the forefront of patient safety and health care quality
improvement initiatives.”
Keystone: ICU is already changing the benchmarks
of health care quality, dramatically reducing complications
once regarded as nearly impossible to eliminate. Central
intravenous (IV) lines can be a major source of infections
in ICUs that harm patients and increase lengths of stay,
which drive up costs. Participating hospitals in Keystone:
ICU have reduced central IV line infections by nearly
50 percent—BCHS has done even better. In 2003,
BCHS averaged only 3.7 blood stream infections per thousand
days. In 2005, that average is now zero.
Prior to MHA Keystone, Michigan’s rate of central
line infections ranked average in the nation. Today,
Michigan’s performance ranks among the best in
the nation.
Overall ventilator-associated pneumonia rates in the
Keystone: ICU project continue to decrease
as well. Each prevented infection reduces costs, reduces
the time a patient must stay in the ICU, and often saves
a life. The BCHS rate for pneumonia while on a ventilator
dropped from an average of 6.2 per thousand patient
days in 2004 to only 1.4 patient days in 2005.
The Society of Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins
University Hospital, and the Michigan Hospital Association
created the Keystone ICU project in March 2003.
Battle Creek Health System is the recipient of the
2005 HealthGrades* Distinguished Hospital Award for
Patient SafetyTM. BCHS is one of only eight hospitals
in Michigan, and the only hospital in Southwest Michigan
to receive this national recognition, ranking it among
the top 3% of hospitals in the nation. HealthGrades
is a leading health care information company that provides
objective ‘report card’ ratings nationwide.
Battle Creek Health System is accredited by the Joint
Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
and has earned the Joint Commission’s ‘Gold
Seal of Approval.’ BCHS provides excellent health
care for the community and promotes wellness for the
whole person with access and compassion for all. For
the latest medical information, visit the BCHS web site
at www.bchealth.com or call
the BCHS Marketing Department
at (269) 966-8132.
* These impact estimates are based on projections from the
Johns Hopkins Opportunity Calculator. This model applies
estimates of the prevention of deaths and decreased hospital
stay as extrapolated from published empirical studies.
The estimated dollar savings is based on an average cost of
a hospital day and an ICU day in Michigan from a sample of
Michigan hospitals.
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