Advancing Quality Patient Care in Illinois
The IHA Quality Care Institute (QCI) is a new strategic center of the Illinois Hospital Association that is:
- building on existing hospital and IHA quality and safety initiatives, and
- designing innovative programs for measurably strengthening the quality of patient care.
Through the Quality Care Institute, Illinois hospitals will become national leaders in quality patient care and safety.
The definition of "quality" used by the Quality Care Institute is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge -- which comes directly from the internationally renowned Institute of Medicine.
Raising the Bar: Call to Action
As one of its first initiatives, the IHA Quality Care Institute is developing a campaign -- Raising the Bar: Call to Action -- to reduce hospital readmissions and hospital acquired conditions and infections. Through collaborative initiatives and programs designed in partnership with IHA members, the Institute is engaging hospitals in interventions that will:
- Reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates for congestive heart failure, heart attack, pneumonia, and
- Reduce hospital-acquired conditions and infections such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), C.difficile, Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI), Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI), Surgical-Site Infections, and Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism following certain orthopedic procedures.
As part of this campaign, nearly 200 hospitals from across Illinois have signed a pledge to engage in these interventions over the next three years.