Partnership for Patients Meets Goal of Over 2000 Hospitals Participating - Obama Administration's Initiative Aims to Improve Patient Safety and Lower Costs
US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Fri July 8 that nearly 4500 organizations - including more than 2000 hospitals - have pledged their support for the Partnership for Patients, the Obama Administration's new nationwide patient safety initiative. In less than three months, the Administration has met its goal of having 2000 hospitals pledge their support. On a conference call with leaders of major hospitals, employers, health plans, physicians, nurses, patient advocates, and state government officials, the Secretary reported on the progress of the Partnership for Patients, encouraging them to reach out to colleagues and to get started on the challenging but critical work of making care safer, more reliable, and less costly for all Americans. The Partnership for Patients also has the potential to save up to $35 billion in healthcare costs, including up to $10 billion for Medicare. Over the next ten years, the Partnership for Patients could reduce costs to Medicare by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings. The Partnership for Patients has announced two funding opportunities created by the Affordable Care Act: § The Community-Based Care Transitions Program provides up to $500 million in funding for community based organizations in partnership with hospitals to help patients safely transition between settings of care. To read more about this program and how to apply, visit http://www.Healthcare.gov/center/programs/partnership/safer/transitions_.html<http://www.healthcare.gov/center/programs/partnership/safer/transitions_.html>. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. § The CMS Innovation Center has posted a request for bids for state, regional, national, or hospital system organizations to manage improvement projects that affiliated hospitals may join. To read the solicitation, visit https://www.FBO.gov/spg/HHS/HCFA/AGG/APP111513/listing.html<https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/HCFA/AGG/APP111513/listing.html>. For more information on the Partnership for Patients initiative and success stories, or to join, visit http://www.Healthcare.gov/partnershipforpatients<http://www.healthcare.gov/partnershipforpatients> The full text of this excerpted press release can be found on the CMS website at http://www.CMS.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4019<http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4019>. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
