The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded a Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) 2.0 contract to the American Hospital Association (AHA)/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). HENs identify best practices proven to reduce hospital-acquired conditions and spread them to other hospitals and health care providers.These networks are a key element of the Partnership for Patients (PfP) campaign to improve the quality, safety and affordability of health care.
PfP Goal: By September 23, 2016, each participating HEN 2.0 hospital reduces inpatient harm by at least 40 percent and avoidable readmissions by at least 20 percent.
HEN 2.0 provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, training, resources and learning collaboratives in the following target areas to help achieve this goal:
- Adverse Drug Event (ADE)
- Airway Safety*
- Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)
- Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)
- Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI)*
- Culture of Safety*
- Early Elective Delivery (EED)
- Failure to Rescue (FTR)*
- Injuries from Falls and Immobility
- Health Care Disparities*
- Iatrogenic Delirium*
- Obstetrical (OB) Adverse Event
- Patient and Family Engagement (PFE)*
- Pressure Ulcers (PrU)
- Radiation Exposure*
- Readmissions
- Sepsis*
- Surgical Site Infection (SSI)
- Venous Thromboembolism (VTE)
- Ventilator-Associated Event (VAE)
*denotes additional harm topics
The AHA/HRET HEN 1.0 was in action from December 2011 to December 2014 to reduce hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and readmissions by 20 percent. Over the three year project, the AHA/HRET HEN prevented roughly over 92,000 harms with an estimated cost savings of $988 million.