Funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation,
UCSF’s Integrated Nurse Leadership Program recruited nine Bay
Area hospitals for a two-year patient safety collaborative aimed
at reducing sepsis mortality rates.
In 2009, hospitals within the Daughters of Charity Health System
launched the Clinical Advancement in Research and Education
(CARE) project, also funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation, for its three northern California hospitals.
The 40 hospitals within Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) in 2007
launched a three-year initiative aimed at reducing inpatient
severe sepsis mortality by five percent across all hospitals.
Sharp HealthCare treats more than 600,000 patients every
year. Since 2007, a top quality care initiative has been to
quickly identify and reduce a serious infection known as sepsis.
Each year sepsis affects 750,000 people across the country.
When patients enter the hospital with a serious infection they
want to know they’re getting the highest quality care. Kaiser
Permanente is committed to quickly identifying and treating life
threatening infections known as sepsis.
With more than 140 central lines in place on any given day,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has virtually
eliminated central line-associated blood stream infections from
multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), while dramatically reducing
other CLABSIs throughout the hospital.
Many hospital systems bring their employees and medical staffs
together to implement quality of care improvement projects. One
such example is Adventist Health based in Roseville. In 2007, 10
of the system’s hospitals joined with 36 facilities that are part
of Adventist Health System, based in Florida, with the goal of
eliminating CLABSIs. The hospitals partnered with a team of
researchers from Johns Hopkins University.
In 2008, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank
concentrated on reducing patient falls, with the goal of
improving the safety of care the hospital provides. Based on a
review of patient records, the hospital found that it had an
average of 21 patient falls per month. Eighty percent of the
falls occurred when patients were moving around their room –
particularly when they were using or attempting to use the
bathroom.
In 2009, a trend was identified at Sierra Vista Regional Medical
Center in San Luis Obispo. Upon analysis, it was discovered that
the patient fall rate exceeded the state average and that the
rate of falls with injury was experiencing an upward trend.
In 2008, White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles adopted a
culture of safety, based on a model by Johns Hopkins University.
The culture extends throughout the entire organization and
includes a subcommittee of the hospital’s governing board. The
subcommittee, called Clinical Quality and Patient Safety,
monitors the hospital’s safety record and clinical performance,
guides progress towards established goals and holds hospital
leadership accountable for improvements.
In 2003, Sutter Health implemented an aggressive strategy to
reduce the number of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. The goal
is to prevent these skin sores in all patients under the care of
Sutter Health hospitals throughout Northern California.
Clinical experts and leaders from throughout the Sutter Health
network came together to identify procedures and products that
lessen the risk of patients developing a pressure ulcers during
hospitalization. The results of this work included:
Every year, more than 50,000 sick or premature babies are
delivered in California. Babies are born with immature
immune systems, and can’t easily fight infections.
In 2009, Riverside County Regional Medical Center implemented a
program to eliminate infections in our neo-natal unit.
Based on best practice research done in California hospitals, the
medical staff are using sterile gloves and surgical masks when
working with central IV lines.
