Save lives and fish with the President. That was the incentive as the Patient Safety Movement Foundation partnered with the Carter Foundation for the fourth year in a row to eliminate preventable patient deaths in hospitals. The prize, as in previous years, was an exclusive private fishing trip with former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in the Georgia Mountains.

The top three hospitals were selected based on their commitment to measurably save the highest number of lives through the implementation of processes that eliminate preventable deaths, such as the Actionable Patient Safety Solutions, between January 2018 - August 2018.

“We appreciate the opportunity to celebrate those committed to saving lives and focused on achieving zero preventable deaths. I want to thank former President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter for their continued support and dedication to protect patient safety. Their participation plays an important role in helping us reach our goal of zero preventable deaths by 2020,” said Joe Kiani, Chairman, and Founder of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation.

The fishing trip comes on the heels of new research. For the first time, new research published in September of this year shows that more people die from poor quality healthcare worldwide than from lack of access to healthcare.

“Patient safety concerns everyone, and I applaud the efforts of hospitals who are actively working to implement processes to make hospitals safer for everyone,” said President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.

Kiani added, “Hospitals that make the commitment to eliminate preventable patient deaths and are transparent about their progress are arguably safer than those that haven’t made the commitment and aren’t measuring. Thanks to the commitment of our 4600 hospitals globally, we are seeing regular improvements in patient safety and thus fewer lives saved due to their ongoing efforts.”

This year’s winners include:

• MedStar Heath – 225 lives saved. Among their commitments, MedStar Health implemented processes to eliminate healthcare-associated infections, which are among the most common complications of hospital care. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at any given time, approximately 1 of every 25 hospitalized patients in the United States has an HAI, meaning that nearly 650,000 patients contract one of these infections annually. More than one million HAIs occur across the United States health care system every year. MedStar Health also made commitments to identify and treat sepsis and implement a culture of safety.

• Parrish Medical Center – 110 lives saved. Parrish Medical Center was recognized as the first 5-star ranked hospital by the Patient Safety Movement for committing to all Actionable Patient Safety Solutions that address the top causes of preventable mortality in hospitals. Notably, Parrish Medical Center implemented processes to eliminate pediatric adverse drug events, a common cause of serious morbidity and mortality. According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), there were over 45,000 adverse drug events (ADEs) in children less than 18 years old between 2008 and 2012. Of these, approximately 64% of ADEs (29,298) involved reports of a serious injury, which included 2,935 (6%) deaths, 10,032 (22%) cases that required hospitalization, 1,430 (3%) cases considered life-threatening, and 816 (2%) cases of disability (ISMP, 2014). Additionally, Parrish Medical Center committed to implementing processes to reduce falls and implement an antimicrobial stewardship program.

• Intermountain Health – 75 lives saved. Among their commitments, Intermountain implemented processes to eliminate Venous thromboembolism. VTE is associated with increased mortality, poor patient outcomes, increased length of stay and decreased patient satisfaction. It is the most common preventable hospital complication as well as the most common cause of preventable mortality in hospitals. In the United States, there are 100,000 – 300,000 VTE-related deaths every year. Intermountain also implemented processes to eliminate two healthcare-associated infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections.