April 17, 2012
Contact: Bonnie Zimmerman
Director, Marketing and Physician Services
Florida Hospital Waterman
1000 Waterman Way
Tavares, FL 32778
(352) 253-3442
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Florida Hospital Waterman Joins National Programs
Focused on Preventing Harm, Reducing Costs
Tavares, FL: Florida Hospital Waterman has taken steps to improve care for the patients it serves each year by joining two programs focused on enhancing the quality, safety and affordability of America’s healthcare.
The first is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Partnership for Patients program with Premier, a nationwide healthcare performance improvement alliance. This program will help identify the solutions already working to reduce hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), and share them with providers across the nation. Participating hospitals focus on reducing preventable harm, including preventable readmissions by 20 percent and preventable HACs by 40 percent, by the end of 2013. In doing so, over the next three years CMS estimates the partnership has the potential to save 60,000 lives, reduce millions of preventable injuries and complications, and save as much as $35 billion.
Florida Hospital Waterman has also joined Premier’s QUEST: High Performing Hospitals collaborative. The goal is to improve the patient experience and avoid harm while reducing mortality, cost of care and readmissions. QUEST hospitals set national care standards by transparently analyzing and comparing performance to identify and implement opportunities for improvement. In QUEST’s first three years, 157 hospitals saved 24,820 lives and reduced healthcare spending by almost $4.5 billion.
“Our participation in these programs shows our commitment to providing a safer, more effective care delivery system, and aligns with our focus on continuously improving patient outcomes,” says Ken Mattison, President and CEO.
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