WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) teamed with major hospitals, health care providers, employers, health plans, and patient advocates from across the country to announce a new Partnership for Patients that aims to improve quality of patient care. The new Partnership takes advantage of vital prevention and cost-saving measures in the Affordable Care Act to:
* Save 60,000 lives by stopping millions of preventable injuries and complications in patient care over the next three years.
* Decrease health costs by $35 billion, including up to $10 billion for Medicare over the next three years.
* Reduce costs to Medicare by $50 billion, with billions more in Medicaid savings, over the next ten years.
“Unlike Republicans’ proposal to end Medicare and increase costs for seniors, this initiative demonstrates our commitment to high quality, affordable health care," said Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI). “The United States has the most talented physicians and most advanced hospitals in the world and this public-private partnership will bring more than 500 organizations together to lower costs and improve care."
"I applaud CMS for moving forward with this patient safety initiative made possible because of the Affordable Care Act," said Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Stark (D-CA). “Improving health care quality is vitally important. Unfortunately, by converting Medicare to a voucher, House Republicans would eliminate Medicare's ability to lead the way in health quality improvements. They'd turn all responsibility for seniors' health care over to insurance companies."
According to the HHS announcement, up to $1 billion in federal funding, made available under the Affordable Care Act, will be invested in reforms that help achieve two shared goals:
* Keep hospital patients from getting injured or sicker. By the end of 2013, preventable hospital-acquired conditions would decrease by 40 percent compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients, with more than 60,000 lives saved over the next three years.
* Help patients heal without complication. By the end of 2013, preventable complications during a transition from one care setting to another would be decreased so that all hospital readmissions would be reduced by 20 percent compared to 2010. Achieving this goal would mean more than 1.6 million patients will recover from illness without suffering a preventable complication requiring re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge.
(source: HHS)
Additional information is available at: https://www.healthcare.gov/center/programs/partnership
