IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Patient Safety Movement Coalition held a press conference to stand in support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its Partnership for Patients initiative. The press conference was held with clinicians from UPMC at University of Pittsburgh’s WISER Education and Simulation training and research facility on Thursday, September 15, 2016.
"ACA has saved over 87,000 lives and saved taxpayers over $20 billion. There is much more to be done to make healthcare safe in our country, but significant progress has been made since ACA was signed into law in 2010," said Joe Kiani, Founder of the Patient Safety Movement Coalition. "Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US. Those that are lucky to survive, may end up with a new costly medical condition they have to live with the rest of their lives. We urge voters to support candidates that want to mend ACA, not end it. We can’t afford to take a step backwards in patient safety.”
As part of ACA, Partnership for Patients was formed, which is a public-private partnership working to improve the quality, safety and affordability of health care for all Americans. At the core of the initiative are 17 Hospital Engagement Networks which partner with more than 3,200 hospitals nationwide to identify best practices and solutions to reduce hospital acquired conditions (HAC) and readmissions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports that, from 2010 to 2014, HACs declined by 17 percent. Patients experienced 2.1 million fewer HACs. This reduction equates to 87,000 patient lives saved and savings of nearly $20 billion in taxpayer dollars.1 Between 2012 and 2013, there were 150,000 fewer hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries.
“We believe programs like the Partnership for Patients initiative are a significant motivator for hospitals to put safety first,” said Dr. Paul Phrampus, Medical Director, Patient Safety, UPMC Health System. “We take both a top down and bottom up approach to patient safety. We believe better care starts with creating a culture of safety where everyone is empowered to help eliminate patient harm.”
"On November 8th, Americans will go to the polls to vote in 435 House and 34 Senate elections. In many of these races, there is at least one candidate supporting the repeal of the ACA. The voters need to understand that, while the ACA isn’t perfect and we support its continued improvement, it is saving lives, and repealing it would jeopardize the progress that has been made,” continued Kiani.
UPMC is a world renowned health care provider and insurer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UPMC is a non-profit and the largest non-governmental employer in Pennsylvania, with over 60,000 employees. It operates more than 20 academic, community and specialty hospitals, more than 500 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites and has nearly 3,600 physicians. UPMC is closely affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh.
About The Patient Safety Movement Coalition
The Patient Safety Movement Coalition is affiliated with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. It works with members of Congress and the Administration to develop policies that increase transparency in healthcare and create additional incentives for hospitals to implement evidence-based patient safety solutions. More than 3,000,000 people worldwide, including 200,000 people in the US, die every year in hospitals in ways that could have been prevented. The Patient Safety Movement Foundation was established through the support of the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare, to reduce the number of preventable deaths to 0 by 2020 (0X2020) in the US and dramatically worldwide. Improving patient safety will require a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government, employers, and private payers. The Patient Safety Movement Foundation works with all stakeholders to address the problems and solutions of patient safety. The Foundation also convenes the annual World Patient Safety, Science and Technology summit. The Summit presents specific, actionable solutions to meet patient safety challenges, encouraging medical technology companies to share the data for which their products are purchased, and asking hospitals to make commitments to implement Actionable Patient Safety Solutions. Visit www.patientsafetymovement.org.
1 http://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2015/12/01/national-patient-safety-efforts-save-lives-and-costs.html
