Texas Center For Quality & Patient Safety Receives Second Major Grant From Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Texas And Releases Much Anticipated Patient Safety Study Results

RICHARDSON, Texas, Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety (TCQPS) announced today that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) is continuing its support for the TCQPS with a $150,000 donation to study and improve patient safety, including reduction of hospital readmissions and hospital-acquired infections.

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TCQPS began in 2010 as an initiative of the Texas Hospital Association Foundation to provide support, tools and resources that improve patient safety and quality of care through collaboration with state and national experts as well as other key stakeholders. TCQPS' work includes projects to reduce hospital readmissions for specific conditions, such as heart failure and pneumonia. Other projects included specific collaborative efforts with hospital administrators to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central line-associated bloodstream infections.

"Texas hospitals have long been committed to improving hospital quality and safety. Identifying and resolving systemic fallibilities that come with providing large-scale care in complex health care systems are part of hospitals' missions to provide the right care at the right time. With the commitment of forward-thinking organizations like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Texas hospitals have been able to harness the power of collaboration and work together through TCQPS to deepen their commitment to quality and patient safety," said Mitzi Ressmann, RN, FACHE, Texas Hospital Association Foundation president/chief executive officer.

The new grant funding builds on the initial support BCBSTX provided in 2010 to help the Texas Hospital Association establish TCQPS.

"Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is pleased to have been a founding underwriter of the Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety, and in recognition of its advances in utilizing a collaborative strategy to improve hospital quality and safety, we are proud to renew our financial support for this innovative endeavor," said Dr. Dan McCoy, vice president & chief medical officer, BCBSTX.  "The Center aligns with our mission of promoting healthy Texas communities, and we anticipate that the Center's strategies will continue to pay quality care dividends for Texas communities for many years to come."

The results of TCQPS' work document the impact of hospitals' efforts to avoid complications, save lives and reduce costs. Among the initiative's results:  

• More than 20 percent of hospitals participating in the TCQPS Hospital Engagement Network saw a 20 percent reduction in readmissions.
• More than 40 percent of hospitals in the TCQPS Hospital Engagement Network saw a reduction in surgical site infections by 40 percent.
• Almost 80 percent of the hospitals in the TCQPS Hospital Engagement Network achieved at least a 40 percent reduction in CLABSIs.  
• About 89 percent of the hospitals in the TCQPS Hospital Engagement Network saw at least a 40 percent reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia.  
• About 67 percent of the hospitals in the TCQPS Hospital Engagement Network achieved at least a 40 percent reduction in CAUTIs.

BCBSTX's second grant to TCQPS will support its continued work to produce quality and patient safety results that avoid complications and save lives.

About the Texas Hospital Association Foundation
As a nonprofit research and education subsidiary of the Texas Hospital Association, the Texas Hospital Association Foundation provides opportunities for hospitals to share and learn from each other as they work to improve patient care. The foundation's Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety is advancing proven strategies that enhance the quality and safety of care provided in Texas hospitals. TCQPS brings together hospitals, state and national patient safety experts, and evidence-based health care practices to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Learn more at www.texashospitalquality.org.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas – the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas – is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 80,000 physicians and 500 hospitals to serve 4.9 million members in all 254 counties.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Texas, Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma and New Mexico), the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall. Health Care Service Corporation is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas