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Press Releases
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Press ReleaseWharton Forum Ties Leadership to Patient SafetyIndependence Blue Cross's joint initiative focuses on reducing hospital acquired infections Philadelphia, PA - May 3, 2006 - Independence Blue Cross co-sponsored an innovative forum for hospital executives about managing change, a skill that will be essential to introducing new techniques to increase patient safety by reducing hospital acquired infections. About 30 executives from area hospitals and health systems attended the CEO Forum on Change Management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday. The half-day forum was an initiative of the Partnership for Patient Care, a collaboration between Independence Blue Cross (IBC) and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (DVHC), which represents 68 area hospitals. The three-year Partnership is funded by $1.25 million from IBC and focuses on enhancing patient care and safety at area hospitals. As its first initiative, the Partnership is tackling reducing health care acquired infections in the area's hospitals. The forum was led by Dr. Gregory Shea, an Adjunct Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in organizational and individual change, group effectiveness, and conflict resolution. At Friday's session, Dr. Shea led participants through a series of lectures and discussion groups to explore how change management techniques could be used to speed and strengthen a hospital's ability to reduce life-threatening infections acquired at hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 2 million infections are acquired at hospitals each year, resulting in 90,000 deaths. Independence Blue Cross and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council launched the Partnership for Patient Care in the fall of 2005. As its first initiative, the Partnership for Patient Care will work on reducing hospital acquired infections in three key areas: glucose control, antibiotic treatment associated with surgery, and increased safety with central intravenous lines. IBC and DVHC are working with ECRI, a nonprofit international health services research agency widely recognized for its efforts to improve the quality of care. As part of the Partnership for Patient Care, ECRI is collecting data and assisting with hospital staff training. By the end of the year, ECRI will have hosted a series of five workshops to train hospitals on a technique called "Failure Mode and Effect Analysis," a method that analyzes a process to see where errors may occur and then redesigns the process to lessen or eliminate the potential for failure. Independence Blue Cross and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council previously worked together in 2003 to create the successful Regional Medication Safety Program for hospitals. The collaboration produced new policies, protocols and educational tools used at hospitals, and achieved a 22 percent improvement in meeting the Council's goals. Independence Blue Cross has committed up to $1.25 million for the three-year initiative. Other future initiatives for the partnership will target other important patient safety topics that may include surgical care, communications between hospital medical staff, preventing blood clot-related complications and improving heart attack care. Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.4 million people. For more than 65 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers. Independence Blue Cross recently received the highest ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its HMO and PPO health care plans. In addition, in 2005, Independence Blue Cross's Personal Choice was rated the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.
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