FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe Martin, Communications Director
717-232-6787 or
Harrisburg, PA - August 16, 2006 - Excela Health is one of 11 Pennsylvania health care organizations to receive a grant to implement new technology to track and proactively prevent hospital-acquired infections. Hospitals selected for the Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections with Electronic Surveillance Demonstration Project will receive funding from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and the Highmark Foundation to assist in the utilization of MedMined's Data Mining Surveillance® service. Excela Health's grant is for $96,000.
"We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for quality improvements across our health care organization as a result of our mutual collaboration," said David S. Gallatin, Excela Health chief executive officer, at a press conference August 16 at which the grant money was presented.
"Excela Health should be commended for taking the lead in implementing this infection control technology, which has been proven to lower both infection rates and health care costs," said Marc P. Volavka, Executive Director of PHC4. "The MedMined service frees a hospital's infection control staff from manual data collection practices and gets them onto the floors and into the rooms of hospitals so they can do the job they were trained for - finding and preventing the causes of the hospital-acquired infections."
"The goal of the project is to reduce hospital-acquired infection rates, which is one of the most important areas where we can improve the quality and safety of health care today," said Donald Fischer, MD, Highmark senior vice president and chief medical officer. "Keeping patients safe while in the hospital helps to increase the quality of care. It's a win-win for the patient and the hospital."
Excela Health began implementation of MedMined in June, with training and education currently under way. It is anticipated that Excela Health will report project data to PCH4 for the third quarter of 2006.
"MedMined will enable the Infection Prevention and Control Programs at each of the Excela Health hospitals to provide access to near-time information, access to the nosocomial infections marker, access to financial date and access to other health care facilities within Pennsylvania using MedMined," noted Ralph Capone, MD, Excela Health's associate medical director and chief quality officer. "This will greatly enhance our ability to be proactive in the prevention of health care acquired infections."
While the board of PHC4 committed $500,000 to the demonstration project, the board of the Highmark Foundation approved $250,000, of which $150,000 is earmarked to match dollars secured from other health insurers.
All Pennsylvania general acute care hospitals were eligible to apply for the project. Applications were evaluated and selected based on the hospital's economic need, location, and commitment to employing contemporary infection control practices.
Grant dollars cover a portion of the cost of Excela Health's participation in the project, with the health system providing matching funds.
MedMined, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cardinal Health, provides data mining analysis and related technical, clinical, and financial consulting services to the health care community. MedMined's Data Mining Surveillance ® service is currently used by 195 hospitals in 26 states, covering more than 2.5 million hospital admissions yearly. The service pinpoints sources of infections by electronically monitoring real-time and historical clinical data, and it alerts infection control professionals to the processes of care that increase the risk of infections.
PHC4 is an independent state agency charged with collecting, analyzing and reporting cost and quality health care information.
The Highmark Foundation was created in December 2000 to support initiatives and programs aimed to improve community health. The Foundation's mission is to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of the individuals who reside in the Pennsylvania 49-county region served by Highmark Inc. The Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations and hospitals for activities of many types, including demonstrations, pilot projects and models that have the potential to be replicated throughout Highmark’s service area.