Univ of Tennessee Medical Center to cut costs via IT

CHARLOTTE: US: In an ongoing effort to improve patient safety, The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UT Medical Center) of Knoxville, Tenn., will utilize the Premier healthcare alliance’s SafetyConnect patient safety program complete with the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network’s (DICON) online educational modules.

A press release adds that Premier’s SafetyConnect helps to safely reduce hospital costs, protects patients more effectively and helps prevent Medicare payment penalties under the new value-based purchasing healthcare legislation by working to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

DICON, a collaboration of the Duke University School of Medicine and 39 community hospitals, provides physician and nurse educational tools designed to engage and empower hospital personnel to take an active role in reducing HAIs.

“The University of Tennessee Medical Center is committed to driving improvements in quality, safety and cost on behalf of our patients and the community,” said David Hall, senior vice president and chief operating officer at UT Medical Center. “By utilizing SafetySurveillor and DICON we can better achieve our goals to offer the best patient care in infection control and harm avoidance.”

As part of SafetyConnect, UT Medical Center will utilize SafetySurveillor, Premier’s automated solution helping to prevent HAIs and optimize antibiotic use. The medical center currently benefits from quality and cost improvement solutions in Premier’s QualityConnect and LaborConnect programs. Additionally, UT Medical Center is part of Premier's market-leading purchasing network and has access to the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information.

“The specific goals of SafetyConnect are to help healthcare organizations improve ongoing infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship, while increasing operational and financial performance,” said Premier's Scott D. Pope, Pharm.D., SafetyConnect national director. “Working together, DICON and Premier are driving toward our mutual goal of reducing HAIs to improve patient safety.”

Hospitals that have used DICON’s evidence-based resources achieved reductions in HAIs ranging from 18 percent to 40 percent in such areas as MRSA, blood stream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.