The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has announced its 5 Million Lives Campaign to prompt hospitals to accelerate their patient safety measures to protect patients from 5 million incidents of medical harm over the next two years. The new campaign builds on the success of the 100,000 Lives Campaign, in which 3,100 participating hospitals reduced inpatient deaths by an estimated 122,000 in 18 months, and adds six new interventions to the existing six. The new interventions are: prevent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection; reduce harm from high-alert medications, starting with anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin; reduce surgical complications; prevent pressure ulcers; deliver reliable, evidence-based care for congestive heart failure; and get boards of directors involved in accelerating the improvement of care.
IHI estimates that between 40 and 50 incidents of harm occur for every 100 hospital admissions, which translates to 40,000 incidents each day, and 15 million annually. Hospitals that join the 5 Million Lives Campaign must adopt at least one intervention and regularly report hospital profile and mortality data.
