St. Anthony Hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony Join

‘Partnership for Patients’ Initiative to Improve Hospital Care

Oklahoma City, OK (January 24, 2012) – St. Anthony Hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony are stepping up efforts to make health care safer and less costly by participating in the “Partnership for Patients” initiative, a federally-approved and federally-supported initiative to make hospitals across the United States safer.  

Partnership for Patients was established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMS) as a public-private partnership that offers support to physicians, nurses and other clinicians working in and out of hospitals to keep patients from getting injured or sicker while in the hospital so they can heal without complications.

 All 16 SSM Health Care hospitals, of which St. Anthony Hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony are members, have joined with the Premier healthcare alliance to participate in the initiative. Premier, a performance improvement alliance of hospitals and other health care organizations working together to achieve high quality, cost-effective care, is one of 26 organizations approved by CMS to participate in the initiative.  More than 540 hospitals across the country are partnering with Premier to participate in Partnership for Patients.

 As a member of the Partnership for Patients initiative, St. Anthony Hospital, Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony and all SSM Health Care hospitals will focus on reducing preventable readmissions to hospitals by 20 percent and reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent over the next three years.

 CMS estimates this partnership has the potential to save 60,000 lives and reduce millions of preventable injuries and complications in patient care over the next three years. It also has the potential to save as much as $35 billion, including up to $10 billion in Medicare savings.

 “St. Anthony Hospital and Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony already have a strong reputation for eliminating infections and preventing other types of complications while patients are healing,” said Joe Hodges, interim president, SSM Health Care of Oklahoma.  “By participating in the Partnership for Patients initiative, we are renewing our focus and dedication to providing safe, high quality and cost effective patient care.”

 In total, Partnership for Patients consists of more than 6,500 partners, including more than 3,100 hospitals and 2,300 physicians, nurses, and patient advocates.

 For more about the Partnership for Patients initiative, please visit the healthcare.gov website: http://www.healthcare.gov/compare/partnership-for-patients/index.html