SC group establishes quality trust

A group of healthcare organizations--including the South Carolina Hospital Association, Health Sciences South Carolina and Premier Healthcare Alliance--are coming together to study methods for lowering the incidence of patient harm and cutting costs, as well as improving the overall health of state residents.

All 65 of the acute-care hospitals in the state expect to participate in the alliance, the South Carolina Healthcare Quality Trust, whose goal is to help hospitals adopt evidence-based practices more quickly. It will do so by funneling the latest research and resources to participants through web-based tools.

The hospital association and Health Sciences South Carolina, a coalition of academic research centers and health systems, will invest $1.7 million to license Premier's Web portal for this purpose, as well as to help providers communicate with each other and outside experts.

The group will initially focus on reducing hospital-acquired infections, but it expects to expand to chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer.

To learn more about this initiative:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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