Illinois hospitals launch quality initiative

Scores of Illinois hospitals have joined a new initiative to improve healthcare delivery and patient safety, announced the Illinois Hospital Association.

The IHA's Quality Care Institute has reported that nearly 200 facilities have joined its three-year "Raising the Bar" initiative.

Raising the Bar focuses on reducing 30-day readmission rates for congestive heart failure, heart attacks and pneumonia, and cutting the number of hospital-acquired conditions such as central line infections, surgical site infections and complications such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms following some orthopedic procedures.

"We will transform healthcare and prepare for changes in the healthcare delivery system while continuing to provide the best care to our patients and communities," said IHA President Maryjane Wurth in a statement.

The state's hospitals began publishing hospital infection rates and other quality measures earlier this year through the Illinois Department of Public Health. The hospitals were required by law to begin publishing such data in 2005, but flawed legislation and budget problems delayed the reporting initiative for years. The Quality Care Institute reports individual hospital data, but not statewide averages.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Illinois earned average scores for quality of acute care services.

For more:
- read the IHA press release
- see the AHRQ rating for Illinois
- see the Illinois Hospital report card

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