Cardinal Health Foundation Awards $1 Million in Grants to Improve Health Care Efficiency, Quality

Forty Organizations in 25 States Leverage New Funding to Improve Medication and Operating Room Safety, Efficiency

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Aug 11, 2010, 09:00 ET

DUBLIN, Ohio, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced that, for the third consecutive year, it has awarded more than $1 million in grant funding to help U.S. hospitals, health systems and community health clinics improve the efficiency and quality of care.

Forty organizations in 25 states have been awarded grants ranging from $7,500 up to $37,500 as part of the 2010 Cardinal Health Foundation E3 Grant Program, which was launched in 2008 to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of health care, nationwide.

Since the grant program's inception, the Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded 108 grants totaling more than $3 million to help hospitals, health systems and clinics implement evidence-based best practices that improve patient safety and the cost effectiveness of health care.

The 2010 E3 Grant Program encouraged applicants to submit funding requests for projects that will either improve medication management or improve efficiency and safety within the operating room. A full list of winners in each category is provided below.

The Cardinal Health Foundation also this year invited E3 Grant Program applicants to apply for scholarships to attend professional development programs hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). As a result, the Cardinal Health Foundation awarded scholarships to help individuals from 37 heath care facilities attend IHI professional development programs that will teach them how to create a culture of safety within their organizations.

"By improving medication and operating room safety and efficiency, health care providers can dramatically reduce health care costs and even more importantly, they can save lives," said Shelley Bird, executive vice president of public affairs for Cardinal Health and chairperson of the Cardinal Health Foundation. "The Cardinal Health Foundation is proud to support the innovative work of our 2010 E3 Grant Program winners, and we believe their efforts will lead to direct and long-lasting improvements in health care efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality."

Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for medication management projects:


Name	Location	Initiative
Antelope Memorial Hospital	Neleigh, Neb.	Computerized Physician Order Entry and Barcode-Enabled Point-of-Care Systems
Baptist Health's Institute for Patient Safety and Medical Simulation	Montgomery, Ala.	The Impact of Error Prevention Technique Testing in a Simulation Laboratory
St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center – Phoenix, Ariz.	Phoenix, Ariz.	Simulation for Safe Medication Processes
CentraState Healthcare Foundation	Freehold, N.J.	"The White Vest Study" (preventing nurse interruptions while administering medication)
Community Health Network Foundation	Indianapolis, Ind.	Improving Medication Reconciliation Practices at Discharge
Clovis Medical Center	Fresno, Calif.	Utilization of Pharmacy Technicians in the Medication Reconciliation Process
Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems	Brewer, Maine	Reaching Out for Your Safety—FDA Alerts in Primary Care
El Rio Community Health Center	Tucson, Ariz.	Improving Medication Safety by Providing Pharmacists with Patient Diagnosis on Electronic Prescription Orders
FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital	Pinehurst, N.C.	The Effectiveness of Hourly Rounding on Patient Safety, Satisfaction and Nursing Workload
Forsyth Medical Center Foundation	Winston-Salem, N.C.	Safe Med Plus: An Innovative Medication Reconciliation / Patient Safety Program to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
Ingham Regional Medical Center	Lansing, Mich.	Care Transitions Initiative
Kansas University Endowment Association	Kansas City, Kan.	A Dedicated Pharmacist to Improve Medication Safety and the Quality of the Discharge Process and Decrease Readmissions
Lahey Clinic	Burlington, Mass.	Lahey Clinic Medication Reconciliation Partnership Project
Bassett Medical Center	Cooperstown, N.Y.	Anticoagulation Management Service Systems Expansion
Natchaug Hospital	Mansfield, Conn.	NetSmart Infoscriber Initiative for Community-Based Program EMR
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship	Silver Spring, Md.	Oral Medicine Adherence Education Program
Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation	Columbus, Ohio	Reduction of Adverse Drug Events via a Critical Care Collaborative (Phase II)
Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center	Niagara Falls, N.Y.	Bedside Medication Administration
Paynesville Area Health Care System	Paynesville, Minn.	Bridging Medication Reconciliation Gaps in Our Community
Rush University Medical Center	Chicago, Ill.	Care Trans-IT: An informatics Tool to Facilitate Medication Reconciliation During Care Transitions
Mercy Willard Hospital	Willard, Ohio	Pharmacist-Lead Diabetes Management Outpatient/Inpatient Service
St. Aloisius Medical Center	Harvey, N.D.	Medication Safety Grant
Suburban Hospital	Bethesda, Md.	Dedicated Pharmacist for the Hospitalist Program
Cleveland Clinic Foundation	Cleveland, Ohio	Evaluation of Two Patient Education Methods for Patient Knowledge, Clinical Outcomes and Associated Costs in Patients Recently Started on Warfarin
Health Care Improvement Foundation	Philadelphia, Pa.	A Regional Demonstration Project to Improve Safe Use of HYDROmorphone
The Institute for Family Health	New York, N.Y.	Preventing Medication-Related Birth Defects Using Electronic Health Records
Wayne State University	Detroit, Mich.	Comparison of Outpatient Medication Prescription Error Rates in a Pediatric Emergency Department Pre and Post Electronic Medication Error Alert System
Wellmont Health System	Kingsport, Tenn.	Pharmacy Technician-Based Medication Reconciliation Program Pilot Study

Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for projects that will improve operating room safety and efficiency:


Name	Location	Initiative
CAMC Institute	Charleston, W.Va.	Vascular Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Study (VSAPS)
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center	Cincinnati, Ohio	Developing Procedural Competency through Video-Assisted Assessment of Pediatric Airway Management
Grady Health System Foundation	Atlanta, Ga.	Operating Room Safety
Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley	Kingston, N.Y.	Operating Room 'Culture of Safety' at Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley
Holy Spirit Health System	Camp Hill, Pa.	Lean Healthcare: Improving efficiency and patient flow in the Operating Room
Johns Hopkins Heath System	Baltimore, Md.	Prevention of Surgical Site Infections Utilizing Intra-Operative Cameras to Improve Operative Practices
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System	Houston, Texas	Impact of SSCL Use on Surgical Complications
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center	New York, N.Y.	Multiphase Targeted Intervention to Increase Staff Communication of Patient and Safety Concerns in the Operating Room
Rhode Island Hospital	Providence, R.I.	Marking in the Universal Protocol: Enhancing Time-Outs (MUP-ET)
Saint Alphonsus Family Maternity Center	Boise, Idaho	Labor & Delivery Universal Surgical Team
Saint Peter's University Hospital	New Brunswick, N.J.	Streamlining the Patient Preoperative Process
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Ala.	Perioperative Patient Throughput

About the Cardinal Health Foundation

The Cardinal Health Foundation supports local, national and international programs that improve health care quality and build healthy communities. The Cardinal Health Foundation also offers grants to encourage employee service to the community and works through international agencies to donate much-needed medical supplies and funding to those who need them in times of disaster. To learn more, visit cardinalhealth.com/community.

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $99 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #17 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com.