Maryland Patient Safety Center Launches Hospital Safety Culture Initiative

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kathryn Schulke, BSN, BA 410-712-7411, schulkek@dfmc.org

Maryland Patient Safety Center Launches Hospital Safety Culture Initiative
50 ICU Teams Collaborate On Methods To Improve Patient Outcomes

BALTIMORE, MD (November 10, 2004) - The Maryland Patient Safety Center today in Baltimore launched the first in a series of Safety Culture Collaboratives. More than 300 people from 50 Maryland Hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) committed to a common goal of dramatically improving results for all patients in ICUs. Throughout the next 12 months, these teams will meet regularly to share and learn from each other the best practices to improve patient outcomes.

All of the participants committed to achieving the following goals:

Improve the culture of safety in ICUs by 50%
Eliminate deadly blood stream infections and ventilator associated pneumonia
Reduce ICU and hospital death rates by 30%
Reduce ICU and hospital length of stay by 1 day
Reduce ICU staff turnover and direct costs by 30%

"The Collaborative approach is an important function the Center will carry out in supporting teams of providers to make bold improvements," said Dr. William Minogue, Executive Director of the Maryland Patient Safety Center.

"These hospitals are committing to learn from each other and put in place the best practices that can save lives, reduce pain and suffering while also lowering costs," stated Margaret Toth, MD, Chief Quality Officer, Delmarva Foundation and Leadership Council Member, Patient Safety Center. "All patients in Maryland will benefit by these efforts."

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About the Maryland Patient Safety Center
The Maryland Patient Safety Center is a place where healthcare providers work together to learn the causes of unsafe practices and put practical improvements in place to prevent harm to patients. The Center collects and analyzes "near misses" that could result in serious consequences to patients. The Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) and the Delmarva Foundation jointly operate the Maryland Patient Safety Center. The MHA represents all of Maryland's hospitals and has been recognized for its involvement in quality of care and patient safety through the MEDSAFE initiative, Quality Indicator Project, and educational activities through the Maryland Healthcare Education Institute (MHEI). Delmarva Foundation, a national not-for-profit quality improvement organization, has been working with hospitals, physicians, home health agencies and nursing homes in Maryland for more than 30 years. For more information, visit www.marylandpatientsafety.org