[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S6556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IMPROVING HOSPITAL CARE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I have said it before and I will say it 
again--the quality of health care in America is in critical condition. 
Forty-six million Americans lack health insurance. That is over 10 
percent of the people in this country.
  It is time to focus on revising our health care system to meet the 
needs of patients by extending coverage and raising the standard of 
care. Incremental steps can make a difference. A recent op-ed article 
in the Boston Globe by Cleve Killingsworth, president and CEO of Blue 
Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, highlights an informative 
nationwide study by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement of 
Cambridge, MA, in which 3,000 acute-care hospitals across the country 
were asked to follow specific practical guidelines proven to save 
patients' lives. The study, conducted over 18 months, showed that over 
122,000 lives had been saved when hospitals implemented just a series 
of basic safety precautions to improve patient care.
  Blue Cross Blue Shield has worked effectively to improve health care 
in Massachusetts, and I commend Mr. Killingsworth for his impressive 
leadership and for bringing this important study to our attention.
  I believe that my colleagues will be especially interested in these 
practical steps to improve the quality of hospital care and their life-
saving potential, and I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Killingsworth's 
important article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Boston Globe, June 21, 2006]

                     Leading the Way on Healthcare

                      (By Cleve L. Killingsworth)

       Improving the quality healthcare saves lives. That's the 
     lesson behind last week's announcement by the Institute for 
     Healthcare Improvement that more than 120,000 such lives were 
     saved nationally because hospitals followed proven 
     interventions that deliver safer and more effective care.
       All 72 Massachusetts acute care hospitals participated in 
     this campaign. Their success together with the state's 
     landmark healthcare reform law that will focus on many of the 
     best practices used by the institute through the 
     Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council puts the 
     state in a unique position to lead the country in delivering 
     top-quality health services.
       Don Berwick, president of the Cambridge-based institute, 
     explained that, over the past 18 months, a national effort by 
     3,000 hospitals across the country prevented the unnecessary 
     deaths of more than 122,300 patients.
       The effort supports interventions that make a real 
     difference for patients. In many cases, that just means 
     getting hospitals and front-line health workers to agree to 
     follow practices that have been shown to eliminate error and 
     save lives.
       Some policies and procedures that the institute and the 
     participating hospitals have put in place are relatively 
     simple. For example, they are committed to giving patients 
     who are at risk for heart attacks aspirin and beta-blockers. 
     They are making sure that patients on ventilators have their 
     heads raised between 30 to 45 degrees at all times to prevent 
     them from developing pneumonia. They are implementing rapid-
     response teams at the first sign that a patient's condition 
     is worsening. And they are making sure that doctors and 
     nurses working with patients who are receiving medicines and 
     fluids from central lines clean the patients' skin with a 
     certain type of antiseptic.
       While these procedures are not revolutionary in concept, 
     they require significant collaborative effort and commitment. 
     Taken together, these everyday actions can represent a sea 
     change in patient outcomes for hospitals. Because of the 
     size, diversity, and complexity of the healthcare system with 
     all its insurers, providers, caregivers, and facilities it is 
     difficult to disseminate best practices that improve patient 
     health. And yet the success that the institute has fostered 
     shows that it can be done.
       It is fitting that every acute-care facility in the state 
     is participating in this process. Massachusetts has already 
     shown it can lead the nation in achieving better healthcare. 
     Passing the legislation that made universal access to 
     healthcare the standard wasn't easy. It took bringing 
     together political leaders from all sides, business leaders, 
     consumer and patient groups, insurers, hospitals, doctors, 
     and nurses.
       And there is more that can and must be done. The state 
     Health Care Quality and Cost Council, established by the 
     landmark legislation, can further improve the delivery of 
     medical care and do so in a way that restrains the growth in 
     spending. The success of the institute's effort shows what 
     can be accomplished when all insurers and hospitals 
     collaboratively choose concrete goals that improve the safety 
     and effectiveness of care.
       Massachusetts has the best healthcare system in the country 
     but it can get better. Given the high caliber of the 
     hospitals and medical schools, the commitment of doctors and 
     nurses, and the pioneering spirit of organizations such as 
     the institute and others that are willing to point out where 
     the system is failing and fix it, Massachusetts is in a 
     unique position to fundamentally transform it.
       The institute has shown that improving the system will save 
     lives. And so with the wind of reform at our backs, universal 
     health coverage within reach, and progress not only possible 
     but demonstrable, now is the time to commit to making 
     Massachusetts the standard bearer for quality healthcare for 
     all.

                          ____________________