The Campaign was formally unveiled on December 12, 2006 and has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Nurses Association (ANA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

The 5 Million Lives Campaign builds upon 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 through overall improvement in care, including improvement associated with six interventions recommended by the initiative. FLORIDA HOSPITAL Fish Memorial saved 125 lives. The new Campaign will promote the adoption of improvements in care that can save lives and reduce patient injuries.

“FLORIDA HOSPITAL Fish Memorial is a dedicated participant in the IHI initiatives,” says President Joe Johnson. “The success of the 100,000 lives campaign has energized our organization and focused us on using these improvements every day. Now our attention is turning towards adopting and applying the additional elements outlined in the 5 Million Lives Campaign.”

IHI estimates that 15 million incidents of medical harm occur in U.S. hospitals each year. This estimate of overall national harm is based on IHI’s extensive experience in studying injury rates in hospitals, which reveals that between 40 to 50 incidents of harm occur for every 100 hospital admissions. With 37 million admissions in the United States each year (according to the AHA’s National Hospital Survey for 2005) this equates to approximately 15 million harm events annually - or 40,000 incidents of harm in U.S. hospitals every day.

IHI defines “medical harm” as unintended physical injury resulting from or contributed to by medical care (including the absence of indicated medical treatment) that requires additional monitoring, treatment or hospitalization, or results in death. (Please consult www.ihi.org for a detailed definition of medical harm.)

FLORIDA HOSPITAL Fish Memorial plans to implement and continue working on the following interventions as part of their participation in the 5 Million Lives Campaign:

• Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection...by reliably implementing scientifically proven infection control practices throughout the hospital

• Reduce harm from high-alert medications...starting with a focus on anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin

• Reduce surgical complications...by reliably implementing the changes in care recommended by the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP)

• Prevent pressure ulcers...by reliably using science-based guidelines for prevention of this serious and common complication

• Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for congestive heart failure & to reduce readmissions

• Get Boards on board... by defining and spreading new and leveraged processes for hospital Boards of Directors, so they can become far more effective in accelerating the improvement of care

• Deploy Rapid Response Teams... at the first sign of patient decline – and before catastrophic cardiac or respiratory event.

• Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction & to prevent deaths from heart attack.

• Prevent adverse drug events... by reconciling patient medications at every transition point in care.

• Prevent central line infections... by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.

• Prevent surgical site infections... by following a series of steps, including reliable, timely administration of correct perioperative antibiotics.

• Prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia... by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps.

There is no cost for hospitals to join the 5 Million Lives Campaign though there is an obligation to adopt at least one intervention and an expectation of regularly reporting hospital profile and mortality data throughout the Campaign.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (www.ihi.org) is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, MA, IHI is a catalyst for change, cultivating innovative concepts for improving patient care and implementing programs for putting those ideas into action. Thousands of health care providers, including many of the finest hospitals in the world, participate in IHI’s groundbreaking work.

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