By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Illinois Hospital Association released a report as part of the association’s three-year initiative to reduce hospital-acquired infections and readmissions that showed progress according to an article on the Pantagraph website. 

Not all area hospitals participated in all initiatives in the report. But all hospitals that responded to Pantagraph questions (Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, OSF Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center in Pontiac, Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka and Dr. John Warner Hospital in Clinton) are participating in safety initiatives and have programs in place to reduce harm and readmissions, the article said.

Comparing hospitals on all safety measures remains challenging because hospitals’ measurements vary. But data released by the five hospitals indicate that patient safety is improving.

“There always are risks with having a procedure, but hospitals are safer” than they were several years ago, Heather Schofield, Saint James director of quality, safety, risk management and regulatory compliance, said in the article.

The hospital association report, which includes data from 200 hospitals from January 2012 through March 2013, concluded that 843 instances of patient harm were avoided, saving $18 million in health care costs.

Read the article.