Ohio Children’s Hospitals Launch Collaborative Efforts to Improve Safety, Reduce Harm

A patient safety collaboration among eight children’s hospitals in Ohio has achieved a 60% reduction in surgical site infections and a 34.5% drop in adverse drug reactions, states an April 8, 2012, Middletown Journal (Middletown, Ohio) article. In 2009, the hospitals formed a nonprofit organization, Ohio Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety, which has received national attention and millions of dollars of state funding. According to the article, that work has been expanded during the past year, and two new related initiatives have been announced. In the first, all eight Ohio children’s hospitals will partner with 25 other U.S. hospitals to focus on eliminating serious harm and to develop definitions for pediatric harm reduction measures.