150 hospitals participating in a nationwide quality initiative

Quality initiative claims it saved 22,000 lives

Sharing data and best practices helped 157 hospitals cut costs and deliver quality care. A separate study, however, casts doubt on patient safety progress.

By KEVIN B. O'REILLY, amednews staff. Posted Dec. 13, 2010.

More than 150 hospitals participating in a nationwide quality initiative saved an estimated 22,165 lives and cut health care expenses by $2.1 billion, officials involved with the effort say.

The 157 hospitals are members of the QUEST initiative organized by Premier Inc., a Charlotte, N.C.-based purchasing and quality improvement alliance of more than 2,400 U.S. nonprofit hospitals. Charter members of the initiative were drawn from 31 states, with roughly even participation of small, mid-size and large hospitals. Thirty-eight percent of the participants are teaching hospitals, and 14% are in rural areas.

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Compared with the mortality rate expected from a baseline collection of data, hospitals taking part in the initiative saw their inpatient death rates drop nearly 25% over two years. The average cost-per-discharge fell 10%, to $5,278.