NUMC JOINS 11 NEW-YORK STATE HOSPITALS IN PLEDGING TO IMPLEMENT EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE TO ENHANCE PATIENT OUTCOMES AND LOWER COSTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2011

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

NUMC JOINS 11 NEW-YORK STATE HOSPITALS IN PLEDGING TO IMPLEMENT EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE TO ENHANCE PATIENT OUTCOMES AND LOWER COSTS

NUMC SUPPORTS PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PARTNERSHIP FOR PATIENTS, LAUNCHED TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY, SAFETY AND AFFORDABILITY OF HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

East Meadow, NY….Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announced that the Nassau University Medical Center had joined eleven other New York State hospitals in pledging to implement evidence based medicine in order to enhance patient outcomes and lower costs.

“We support President Obama’s partnership for patients in improving care by preventing harm and enhancing care transition, while also lowering costs as part of a pledge to implement evidence based medicine,” stated Gianelli. “The partnership asks participants to work on a variety of clinical issues that will increase the quality of care, decrease the length of stay and improve clinical outcomes.”

The Obama Administration has launched the Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs, a new public-private partnership that will help improve the quality, safety and affordability of health care for all Americans.  The Partnership for Patients brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, health plans, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates along with State and Federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable, and less costly. The two goals of this new partnership are: Keep patients from getting injured or sicker and help patients heal without complication.

Maureen P. Shannon, RN, MHA, CPHQ, vice president of quality management, whose staff will implement this initiative, said: “NUMC is committed to improving patient satisfaction and enhancing outcomes for our patients. We look forward to partnering with key stakeholders across health care systems in achieving these goals.”

Improving Patient Safety
Successful efforts to improve patient safety have shown that collaboration and use of innovative practices to target specific types of medical errors and complications work. Many important stakeholders have already pledged to join this Partnership in a shared effort to save thousands of lives, stop millions of injuries and take important steps toward a more dependable and affordable health care system. They include: hospitals and national organizations representing physicians and nurses, patient and consumer organizations and employers, unions, health plans and States.
New funding provided by the Affordable Care Act will help achieve the two goals of the partnership, keeping patient from getting injured or sicker and improving transitions between care settings.
More than 200 teaching hospitals and health systems have joined the effort, and are pledging to take simple steps such as using surgical checklists for safer surgery and using proven practices to reduce central line infections, reduce hospital readmissions and continue efforts to improve patient safety.

Preventing Harm
The Partnership will target all forms of harm to patients but will start by asking hospitals to focus on nine types of medical errors and complications where the potential for dramatic reductions in harm rates has been demonstrated by pioneering hospitals and systems across the country, including preventing adverse drug reactions, pressure ulcers, childbirth complications and surgical site infections.

Improving Care Transitions
Partnering with eligible hospitals for care transition services that include timely, culturally, and linguistically-competent post-discharge education, medication review and management, and patient-centered self-management support within 24 hours of discharge.

“This pledge is one of the many ways the Affordable Care Act is helping to improve the health care system by coordinating quality initiatives as a way to leverage and coordinate efforts by federal agencies to improve patient care provided to all the patients of the NuHealth System,” concluded Gianelli.

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.