100,000 Lives Campaign: Hospitals join patient safety plan

Aggregate mortality data collected through the project could give a big boost to evidence-based medicine, campaign supporters say.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Nov. 7, 2005.

More than half of America's hospital beds are now enrolled in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives Campaign, a patient-safety initiative aimed at helping participating hospitals prevent some of the most fatal and costly medical errors.

IHI President and CEO Donald M. Berwick, MD, said the now 2,800 participating hospitals exceeded the campaign's original goal of 2,000.

The program, in which the AMA is a partner, focuses on six initiatives. IHI estimates that, if implemented reliably by at least 1,600 hospitals, the campaign would save 100,000 lives over 18 months.

The program, launched in January, is scheduled to issue a report in June 2006 detailing the aggregate mortality data for the hospitals that have joined the effort. Dr. Berwick called the early numbers very promising.

"We, as a nation, will be able to have a big party in June 2006 when the results are released," Dr. Berwick said at the Chicago stop in the campaign's promotional 16-city fall bus tour from Boston to Seattle.

Dr. Berwick said he would urge participating hospitals to report their mortality data publicly at an individual or systemwide level once the results are in next June. Such disclosure is not required to participate in the campaign, which will only report aggregate national data.

Participating hospitals pledge to develop rapid-response teams, administer appropriate drugs for heart attack patients, prevent adverse drug events, reduce surgical site and central line infections, and reduce ventilator-related pneumonia. The campaign is organized regionally into geographic nodes -- usually quality improvement organizations, medical societies, hospital associations and ad hoc outfits -- to help support participating hospitals at the local level.