Valued Voice

A new report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA), in collaboration with Vizient, reveals that hospitals across the country have made remarkable strides in improving patient safety and care quality, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The report highlights how hospitals, despite facing a sicker and more complex patient population in the first quarter of 2024, have demonstrated significant improvements in outcomes and safety measures compared to the last quarter of 2019.

This achievement underscores the resilience and unwavering commitment of hospitals, health care teams and frontline staff nationwide. Even amid the increasing complexity of patient care, hospitals have consistently focused on enhancing safety measures, delivering better outcomes, and saving lives.

Key findings from the AHA report include:

• Increased Survival Rates: Despite patients being more severely ill, hospitals in early 2024 saw a 20% improvement in survival rates compared to the end of 2019.
• Lives Saved: AHA projects that hospitals’ efforts to improve patient safety helped 200,000 Americans survive hospitalizations between April 2023 and March 2024 who would not have survived in 2019.
• Reduced Infections: Hospitals achieved lower rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) compared to 2019 levels.
• Rebounding Screenings: Key preventive screenings for breast, colon and cervical cancers not only returned to pre-pandemic levels but increased by 60%-80%.

In alignment with this national trend, WHA recently released its own 2024 Quality Report this week, which also highlights how hospitals in Wisconsin have not only returned to but surpassed pre-pandemic levels in key quality measures. WHA’s report showcases the collective efforts of Wisconsin hospitals in driving down infection rates, enhancing patient safety protocols and improving outcomes across the board, reinforcing our commitment to exceptional patient care.

For more information, you can download the AHA’s full Patient Safety report here and view WHA’s 2024 Quality Report here.