Cardinal Health Foundation Awards $1 Million to Fund Patient Safety Initiatives

The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced it has awarded a total of $1 million in grant funding for new and innovative programs to improve patient safety at 35 hospitals, health systems and community health clinics across the country.

Grants of up to $35,000 per facility will provide funding for programs that implement creative and replicable methods to improve the quality of patient care. Examples of initiatives that received funding include: targeted screening for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), strategies to improve physician hand hygiene, electronic medical record implementation and medication safety and reconciliation projects.

The primary criterion for awarding the grants was that they address the National Quality Forum’s priority areas, specifically concentrating on the following areas:

· Eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), specifically MRSA and C. difficile infection prevention and management, with the goal of reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), surgical site infections (SSI) and blood site infections (BSI) to zero

· Medication safety and reconciliation in forms ranging from prescribing correct medication to ensuring the right medication gets to the right patient at the right time and assuring information is communicated and understood at key transition points

“Medication safety and healthcare-associated infections are two of the largest patient safety issues that healthcare organizations face every day, and the human toll and financial burden is escalating,” said Shelley Bird, chair of the Cardinal Health Foundation. “The Cardinal Health Foundation is committed to improving the overall effectiveness of healthcare, and we’re proud to support these institutions that are enhancing patient safety and the quality of care.”

Patient Safety Grant Projects include:

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network

 Philadelphia, Pa.

 SMASH (Stop MRSA Acquisition and Spread in our Hospitals)

Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Institute at The Ohio State University

 Columbus, Ohio

 Development of a Home Medication Documentation Interactive Training Program: Impact of Using Virtual Patient Modules to Improve Medication Reconciliation

Aurora Health Care

 Milwaukee, Wis.

 Targeted vs. Universal Screening for MRSA

Baylor Health Care System

 Dallas, Texas

 Implementing Strategies to Improve Physician Hand Hygiene Compliance

Christian Hospital (member of BJC HealthCare)

 St. Louis, Mo.

 Promoting Antibiotic Stewardship at Christian Hospital

Catholic Healthcare West

 San Francisco, Calif.

 Medication Reconciliation

CHRISTUS Spohn Foundation

 Corpus Christi, Texas

 High Priority Safety Program to Eliminate Hospital-Acquired Surgical Site Infections in patients with previously diagnosed diabetes and in undiagnosed patients who exhibit high blood sugar levels prior to surgery

CMH Regional Health System

 Wilmington, Ohio

 Improving Patient Safety at CMH: Reducing Medication Errors Through the Use of Technology

Community Memorial Hospital

 Oconto Falls, Wis.

 Enhanced Patient Discharge Program

 DCH Regional Medical Center

 Tuscaloosa, Ala.

 Medication Reconciliation for Heart Failure Patients

 East Alabama Medical Center

 Opelika, Ala.

 Applying Lean Principles to the Reduction of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections

Eastern Maine Medical Center

 Bangor, Maine

 Enhancing Patient Safety through Improved Communication (EPIC): A Program to Eliminate HAI and Medical Errors through Improved Communication and Teamwork in the Surgical Unit

Graceville Health Center

 Graceville, Minn.

 Implementing an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System at Graceville Health Center

Huntington Memorial Hospital

 Pasadena, Calif.

 NICU Ventilator-Acquired Pneumonia Bundle Initiative

Inova Loudon Hospital

 Falls Church, Va.

 Evaluation of the Prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Colonization in Pre-surgical Patients and Post-Operative Infections

Lamp Community

 Los Angeles, Calif.

 Medication Management Program

Lee Memorial Health System

 Ft. Myers, Fla.

 Implementing an innovative system-wide evidenced-based Asthma Management Program to ensure consistent, safe medication administration and reconciliation throughout the continuum of care

MaineHealth

 Portland, Maine

 Creating a Standardized, System-Level Discharge Planning and Medication Reconciliation Process

Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation

 Fort Collins, Colo.

 Eliminating healthcare-associated infections at Medical Center of the Rockies

Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases

 New York, N.Y.

 Reducing CDI through Interactive Patient Education

Meridian Health

 Neptune, N.J.

 Pharmacist Model of Care Demonstration Project

North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, Inc.

 Great Neck, N.Y.

 National Clinical Outcomes Database in Anesthesiology

NorthShore University HealthSystem

 Evanston, Ill.

 Reduction in Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Rates Using Observation-Education Teams and Electronic Medical Records

Ochsner Health System

 New Orleans, La.

 Improving Safety of Handling Breast Milk in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Piedmont Hospital

 Atlanta, Ga.

 Reducing Medication Errors through Pharmacist-led Reconciliation

Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute

 La Jolla, Calif.

 Systemwide Standardization of Glycemic Control Protocols

 St. John Hospital and Medical Center

 Detroit, Mich.

 Developing a Process to Reduce Risk of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections in the Non-intensive Care Units

St. Joseph Health System - Humboldt County

 Eureka, Calif.

 SJHS-HC Care Transition Program's Medication Safety and Reconciliation Project

The Nebraska Medical Center

 Omaha, Neb.

 Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections Through Optimized Patient Care Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection

UCSF Medical Center

 San Francisco, Calif.

 Spreading Successful Innovation: Improving Medication Administration Accuracy

University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital

 Birmingham, Ala.

 Comparison of Chlorhexidine Rinse, Commercially Available Oral Care Kit, and Standard MICU Oral Care in the Reduction of VAP

University of Virginia Health System

 Charlottesville, Va.

 Randomized controlled trial of Hand Hygiene plus Gloving for the Prevention of Invasive Infections in Preterm Infants

Virginia Commonwealth University Health System

 Richmond, Va.

 Safety First, Every Day

Virginia Mason Medical Center

 Seattle, Wash.

 Optimizing Care Transitions through Medication Reconciliation

Wesley Medical Center

 Wichita, Kan.

 Electronic Patient Triage Development and Implementation Involving Nurse, Pharmacy Technician, and Pharmacist Obtained Medication Histories in the Emergency Department and Impact on Medication Reconciliation

The Cardinal Health Foundation supports local, national and international programs that improve healthcare quality and build healthy communities. The Cardinal Health Foundation also offers grants to encourage employee service to the community and works through international agencies to donate much-needed medical supplies and funding to those who need them in times of disaster.