A Medical Device Daily

To increase the number of rural and public hospitals participating in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI; Dublin Ohio) 5 Million Lives Campaign, the Cardinal Health Foundation (CFH; Dublin) reported it is granting $537,000 to 37 hospitals that enroll and report their data to IHI. Hospitals will receive an average of $15,000 each to support their commitment and ability to implement IHI initiatives, aimed at protecting patients from five million incidents of medical harm over two years (December 2006 to December 2008).

Joe McCannon, VP and 5 Million Lives Campaign manager at the IHI, said, "This funding gives crucial energy and confidence to a new group of public and rural facilities, engaging them more deeply in their urgent work to reduce injury and connecting them to a vibrant network of hundreds - even thousands - of peer facilities across the nation."

"We believe it is vitally important to support health care initiatives and innovation aimed at improving patient safety and quality of care," said Jim Mazzola, VP of Cardinal Health and the Cardinal Health Foundation.

Each hospital must identify the interventions it will adopt, submit relevant data to the IHI and share its experiences, ideas and outcomes with other campaign participants.