Health systems plan shared quality initiative

A group of three health systems representing 56 hospitals have come together to create a joint quality initiative. The three systems, which include Wellmont Health System, Adventist health System and Novant Health, have developed a program which leverages existing quality measures. Their "Safest Hospital Initiative" uses a template defining the characteristics of a safe hospital, which execs will use to implement critical practices for high-quality patient care. Among other features, the program is intended to give day-to-day caregivers more power, allowing them to fix problems as they encounter them rather than forcing them to push concerns up the chain of command. The systems, which generate $11 billion collectively, plan to implement these processes over the next two years.

To get more background on the initiative:
- read this Modern Healthcare item (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
Study: Healthcare quality movement stalled. Report
California groups release hospital report card. Report
ACP publishes quality measurement tools. Report