Cardinal Health Awards $1 Million to Fund Patient Safety Initiatives

WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To support initiatives that enhance patient safety and quality of care, Cardinal Health announced today grants totaling $1 million for new and innovative programs at 34 hospitals, health systems and community health clinics across the country. This program is the largest and first of its kind given by a health care company.

The awards were announced today by Cardinal Health Chairman and CEO R. Kerry Clark at a briefing at the National Press Club on Quality as a Path to Improving the Cost of Health Care in America.

Grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 will provide funding for programs that implement creative and replicable methods to improve the quality of patient care. Initiatives that received funding include a regional, collaborative program to reduce Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in New Mexico, an initiative to create the largest national clinical outcomes database to define, measure and benchmark the highest standards of practice in anesthesiology and a hospital in New Jersey using pre-labeled and pre-filled insulin pens to reduce errors in insulin administration.

More than 10 percent (700 organizations) of the nation's hospitals applied for the grants. In choosing recipients, Cardinal Health looked for projects that respond to a clearly identified, high priority safety issue; collaborative programs; projects that apply new thinking and approaches to development of solutions; model programs that can be replicated at other organizations and demonstrable and sustainable measures to ensure that improvements last over time.

"I believe the health care industry can use quality improvements as a strategy to achieve lower costs and provide safer care for our citizens," said Clark. "Fixing health care is not a simple task, but we have it within our control to take simple steps that can have a dramatic effect."

According to the Institute of Medicine, medication mistakes injure more than 1.5 million patients each year, causing nearly 100,000 deaths and costing the health care industry more than $3.5 billion. The 34 grant recipients are tackling these and other quality issues to improve patient safety.

    Patient Safety Grant Projects include:

    Name                        Location      Initiative
    Avera McKenna Hospital &    Sioux Falls,  Saving lives in rural
     University Health Center   S.D.          communities

    Cambridge Health            Boston        Redefining and redesigning
     Alliance                                 hospital discharge

    Catholic Healthcare         Cincinnati    Configure medication use system
     Partners                                 using Pyxis automation
                                              technologies

    Children's Hospital         Madera,       Mind the gap: healthy literacy
     Central California         Calif.        initiative

    Children's Hospital of      Detroit       Monitoring of end tidal CO2
     Michigan, Wayne State
     University

    Cincinnati Children's       Cincinnati    Partnering with families to
     Hospital                                 improve patient safety

    Community Medical Centers   Fresno,       Patient quality / safety
                                Calif.        monitoring program

    DCH Regional Medical        Tuscaloosa,   Early predictor of critical
     Center                     Ala.          health status using SWAT
                                              intervention

    Fairmont General            Fairmont,     Anticoagulation clinic
     Hospital                   W.Va.

    Geisinger Clinic            Danville,     Adverse drug event assessment
                                Pa.           using electronic health
                                              record

    Holy Cross Hospital         Silver        Crew resource management
                                Spring,
                                Md.

    Hospital of the             Philadelphia  The role of end tidal CO2
     University of
     Pennsylvania

    Indianapolis Health         Indianapolis  Smart pump informatics:
     Information Exchange                     comparing Alaris database

    Lee Memorial Health         Fort Myers,   Structured response through
     System Foundation          Fla.          integration of best practice
                                              nursing interventions and tools
                                              to prevent hospital-acquired
                                              pressure ulcers

    Mackinac Straits Hospital   St. Ignace,   Coumadin therapy monitoring
     and Health Center          Mich.

    MeritCare Health Systems    Fargo, N.D.   Advanced medical home with
                                              pharmacist intervention

    Montefiore Medical Center   Bronx, N.Y.   Electronic decision support for
                                              prevention of venous
                                              thromboembolic disease

    Nationwide Children's       Columbus,     Fall prevention program in
     Hospital Foundation        Ohio          hospitalized children

    New York Presbyterian       New York      Educating family caregivers -
     Hospital                                 catheter related infections

    North Shore - Long Island   Great Neck,   National clinical outcomes
     Jewish Health System       N.Y.          database in anesthesiology

    Our Lady of Mercy Medical   Bronx, N.Y.   Warfarin: Overseeing current
     Center                                   practice and implementing
                                              measures for safe use

    Palomar Pomerado North      Escondido,    Adverse Drug Event evaluation
     County Health Development  Calif.        project

    Providence Hospital         Mobile,       Antibiotic prophylaxis in
                                Ala.          cardiac surgery: The effects of
                                              obesity on serum levels during
                                              surgery

    Rady Children's Hospital    San Diego     Improving pediatric
     & Health Center                          anticoagulation safety

    Rush University Medical     Chicago       Prospective model for
     Center                                   identifying patients at risk for
                                              catheter-associated urinary
                                              tract infections

    Saint Barnabas Medical      West          Insulin therapy risk reduction
     Center Foundation          Orange,       program
                                N.J.

    Santa Clara Valley          San Jose,     (1) Improve the survival rate of
     Medical Center             Calif.        very low birth weight infants;
     Foundation (2)                           and (2) Building a safe bridge
                                              between inpatient and outpatient
                                              settings for anticoagulation

    Sunrise Community Health    Evans,        Integration of patient care:
                                Colo.         Pharmacy and EHR

    University Medical Center   Las Vegas     Antibiotic stewardship/infection
     of Southern Nevada                       control program

    University of California    San Diego     Safety and health improvement
                                              project

    University of New Mexico    Albuquerque,  Regional collaborative program
     Health Sciences Center     N.M.          to reduce MRSA in New Mexico

    Wellmont Health System      Kingsport,    Safest hospital initiative
                                Tenn.

    Whidbey General Hospital    Whidbey       Infection control bundles
     Foundation                 Island,
                                Wash.

In addition to the corporate commitment to patient safety, the Cardinal Health Foundation has provided more than $10 million for significant health care initiatives since its inception in 2002. Many of these have a special focus on patient safety including:

    -- Serving as a lead sponsor for the Institute for Healthcare
       Improvement's 100,000 Lives and 5 Million Lives Campaigns.

    -- Funding important patient safety initiatives in partnership with
       leading national and regional organizations, such as the National
       Quality Forum, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and
       the Maryland Patient Safety Center.

    -- Development of a national poison prevention campaign focused on
       medication safety in partnership with SafeKids Worldwide.

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. NYSE: CAH is an $87 billion, global company serving the health-care industry with products and services that help hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies reduce costs, improve safety, productivity and profitability, and deliver better care to patients. With a focus on making supply chains more efficient, reducing health care-associated infections and breaking the cycle of harmful medication errors, Cardinal Health develops market-leading technologies, including Alaris(R) IV pumps, Pyxis(R) automated dispensing systems, MedMined(TM) electronic infection surveillance service, VIASYS(R) respiratory care products and the CareFusion(TM) patient identification system. The company also manufactures medical and surgical products and is one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies worldwide. Ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 40,000 people on five continents. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com .