PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Date: May 1, 2005
Contact: Deborah Love
804-643-6631
ramdirector@ramdocs.org

A Time-Sensitive Plan to Save 100,000 Lives
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
—Goethe

RICHMOND, Va. -- As the patient safety movement gathers force across Virginia and the U.S., a fundamental shift in health care attitudes is occurring -- from secrecy to transparency, from a system that reacts to health emergencies to one that anticipates and prevents them, from a mindset of  “doctor knows best” to a model where patients are involved advocates for excellent health care.

This incremental transformation to patient-centered care has gained considerable momentum over the past five years, galvanized by a landmark 1999 federal report that estimated as many as 98,000 hospital patients die each year from preventable medical errors.

What began as a quiet revolution of patient safety advocates working to reduce avoidable injury and death is becoming a system-wide imperative at a growing number of U.S. hospitals. I’ve watched this gradual metamorphosis from close range, in my dual roles as chief medical officer of the Virginia Health Quality Center and president of Virginians Improving Patient Care & Safety (VIPC&S), a 5-year-old, all-volunteer coalition of more than 40 organizations dedicated to improving health care quality.

The improvements are heartening, and we’ve come a long way. But much work remains before our hospitals and health care systems are as safe as they should be.

One particularly promising initiative now underway is the 100,000 Lives Campaign, which has a specific deadline and concrete goal: saving 100,000 lives by June 14, 2006 by instituting key changes at at least 2,000 U.S. hospitals. The campaign’s motto, “Some is not a number; soon is not a time” is a reference to the need to focus on action rather than rhetoric.

The non-profit Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) launched the 100,000 Lives Campaign in December 2004. Already, more than 1,800 hospitals nationwide – including about 42 of Virginia’s 80-plus general acute care hospitals -- have signed on to the campaign’s carefully constructed, scientifically tested plan. It features six hospital interventions proven to reduce preventable injury and death.

The Big Six include deploying rapid response teams to help failing patients get help at the first sign of decline, following established quality guidelines for treatment of heart attack, and using evidence-based methods to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia, surgical site infections, adverse drug events and catheter-associated bloodstream infections.

Jim Conway, chief operations officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a vocal proponent of the 100,000 Lives Campaign, emerged as a national leader in patient safety in the years following the highly publicized death of Boston Globe health columnist Betsy Lehman in 1994. Her fatal chemotherapy overdose – prescribed at four times the needed dosage -- led to major safety improvements at Dana-Farber and convinced Conway of the crucial role hospital leadership plays in driving patient safety.

Conway now travels the country urging hospital leaders to institute a cultural shift that makes every hospital staffer aware that safety is part of their basic job description. While executives must provide the resources necessary to design and install programs that identify risks and reduce errors, they must also keep lines of communication open with everyone on the healthcare team, talking regularly with their staffs about needed safety system improvements. For maximum progress on reducing errors, they must replace a blame and shame response with a thoughtful approach based on learning and building.

Conway will describe some of his hard-won lessons May 25, during the 5th annual conference of VIPC&S. He’ll join an extensive lineup of national patient safety leaders who’ll share their own news from the front. Their insights are critically important as we shape a safer system.

We applaud those Virginia hospitals that have already signed on to the 100,000 Lives Campaign, which in Richmond includes the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, HCA Richmond Hospitals, Bon Secours Richmond Health System and the Veterans Administration hospitals. We urge leaders of Virginia’s acute care hospitals that have not yet joined the effort to study the reforms embodied in the 100,000 Lives Campaign, and make its goals their own.

The time for lifesaving action is now. Some is not a number. Soon is not a time.

Sallie S. Cook, MD, is president of Virginians Improving Patient Care & Safety, based in Richmond.