Encouraging News…

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and David Cote, CEO of Honeywell International, write in a Philadelphia Inquirer (4/25) op-ed that the “Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 100,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors in hospitals.”

That number is equivalent to the “deaths caused by auto accidents, AIDS, and breast cancer combined.” Consequently, the “Obama administration and employers such as Honeywell have joined doctors, nurses, hospitals, health insurers, and patient advocates to launch the Partnership for Patients, an unprecedented alliance that will promote innovations to improve hospital care and reduce wasteful spending nationwide.” The initiative aims to “reduce preventable injuries in hospitals by 40 percent. And we want to cut readmissions by 20 percent, targeting return hospital trips that shouldn’t occur.”