Healthcare Association of Hawaii to Lead Federal Effort to Improve Quality of Healthcare in Hawaii

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HONOLULU, HAWAII – The Healthcare Association of Hawaii is playing a leadership role in transforming health care delivery in Hawaii by partnering with Premier, Inc. on a large-scale federal quality initiative.

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii will manage the Partnership for Patients initiative in Hawaii.  Premier, Inc. was recently selected by the Innovation Center of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as one of 26 Hospital Engagement Networks that will implement the Partnership for Patients initiative.  Hospital Engagement Networks received $218 million and will focus on improving quality by reducing hospital-acquired conditions and hospital readmissions.  They will help hospitals identify educational needs and encourage them to collaborate to find solutions that improve the quality of health care.

The majority of Hawaii’s hospitals will comprise one of three affinity groups nationally with which Premier is working.  The Healthcare Association of Hawaii will coordinate the Hawaii effort.

One goal of Partnerships for Patients is to keep patients from becoming injured or sicker by reducing preventable hospital-acquired infections by 40% by 2013.  A second goal is to help patients heal without complications during a transition from one care setting to another by reducing hospital readmissions by 20% by 2013.  The achievement of these goals has the potential to save 60,000 lives and reduce millions of preventable injuries and complications over the next three years.  It also has the potential to save as much as $35 billion, including up to $10 billion in Medicare savings.

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii has already engaged Hawaii’s hospitals in quality improvement efforts, such as reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).  Resources available through Premier and Partnerships for Patients will supplement these efforts and initiate new quality initiatives.

The Hawaii Health Information Corporation will lead efforts in data collection and analysis for the Hawaii affinity group.  Collaboration with the State Department of Health and Mountain Pacific Quality Health, Hawaii’s Quality Improvement Organization, will be essential in providing support to our hospitals.

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii is committed to improving the quality of care and is proud to play a leadership role in the Partnership for Patients initiative.

George Greene is the President and CEO with the  Healthcare Association of Hawaii 

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