Blue Shield of California Foundation Dramatically Expands Its Work With Hospitals to Fight Healthcare-Associated Infections

More than 50 hospitals statewide join program to save lives and money

San Francisco, July 10, 2008 - Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) today announced it is dramatically expanding a nine-hospital pilot to include more than 50 hospitals across the state that are committed to saving hundreds of patient lives and millions of healthcare dollars by reducing healthcare-associated infections.

All 55 hospitals will take part in an advanced learning collaborative staffed by infection prevention leaders from across the nation.  Of those, 14 nonprofit hospitals will receive grants to help purchase state-of-the-art data-mining technology that allows for the early detection and rapid treatment of healthcare-associated infections.  As previously announced on February 26, 2008, BSCF will commit up to $4 million to fund the project.

In California, an estimated 150,000 patients suffer from HAIs annually, 9,000 of which result in death. By expanding its California Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Initiative (CHAIPI) over the next two years, BSCF aims to make significant reductions:  2,000 fewer patients contracting HAIs, 15,000 fewer patient hospital days, and $30 million in avoided costs to patients and hospitals. 

"Our goal is to eliminate the human suffering and the additional healthcare costs that result from healthcare-associated infections," said Crystal Hayling, BSCF president and CEO.  "By promoting the use of new technologies and implementing state-of-the-art process improvements, we know we can absolutely reduce infections in patients across California and prevent millions of dollars in unnecessary costs."

Krystin Dozier, RN and vice president of clinical effectiveness for the Sutter Health network, has seven Northern California hospitals participating in the expanded CHAIPI program because "it fits seamlessly with our longtime work toward eliminating infections and our commitment to continuously improving patient care."

"Sutter Health is an early adopter of patient safety technologies, and the CHAIPI project provides more new tools and data that we can use to further advance our efforts.  The opportunity to collaborate with other organizations across the state increases our ability to implement best practices even sooner and to save more lives," Dozier said.

In 2005, BSCF sponsored the nine-hospital CHAIPI pilot program to determine if new technologies could help infection-control specialists track and prevent the spread of infection.  During the course of the 18-month pilot, more than 600 infections were prevented, resulting in 4,640 fewer patient hospital days.  BSCF estimates its initial $1 million investment in the CHAIPI pilot lowered costs of care by more than $9 million.

Nancy Pratt, senior vice president of clinical effectiveness for Sharp Health Care in San Diego, which has five hospitals participating in CHAIPI, believes the project provides a great collaborative opportunity for her team.  "Improving patient outcomes is a priority for all of us," Pratt said of the hospitals participating in the pilot.  "Electronic tools will only make all of us more effective.  We want to learn from anyone who has a good idea and share our ideas, as well."

Faculty for the CHAIPI learning collaborative will be drawn from nationally recognized organizations including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and California Institute for Health Systems Performance (CIHSP).   The data mining technology is made available at reduced costs through Cardinal Health/MedMined.

Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the largest health care grantmaking organizations in California. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.blueshieldcafoundation.org. The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.2 million members, 4,300 employees and 20 offices throughout California. For more information about the company, please visit www.blueshieldca.com.

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HOSPITALS PARTICIPATING IN CHAIPI II BY REGION

Butte County
Enloe Medical Center, Chico
Central Coast
Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara
Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, Solvang
Central Valley
Central Valley General Hospital, Hanford
Clovis Community Medical Center, Clovis
Community Regional Medical Center, Fresno
Delano Regional Medical Center, Delano
Fresno Heart & Surgery Center, Fresno
Hanford Community Medical Center, Hanford
Lodi Memorial Hospital, Lodi
Oak Valley District Hospital, Oakdale
St. Agnes Medical Center, Fresno
Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District, Tehachapi
Greater Bay Area
Doctors Medical Center, Pinole
Healdsburg District Hospital, Healdsburg
Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Antioch
Kaiser Foundation Hospital, South San Francisco
Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Vallejo
O'Connor Hospital, San Jose
Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System, Santa Clara
Sonoma Valley Hospital, Sonoma
Sutter Delta Medical Center, Antioch
Sutter Solano Medical Center, Vallejo
Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont
Greater Sacramento Area
Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital, Auburn
Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Roseville
Lake County
Lake County
Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lakeport