About two million infections are acquired in U.S. hospitals each year, killing about 90,000 people and adding more than $30.5 billion to the nation’s health care costs. The RI Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Collaborative was formed to lower complications, mortality rates, and costs from these preventable infections in RI’s ICUs.

The Rhode Island ICU Collaborative recognized Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, recently, at the Annual ICU Collaborative Outcomes Congress on September 22nd with a Certificate of Achievement. Participants reviewed performance to date, improvements in care climate and adherence to best practices. The recognition acknowledges outstanding performance in the following clinical areas: greatest risk reduction rate and/or greatest number of reduced infections in blood stream infections in the last 12 months compared to baseline; central line associated blood stream infection and ventilator-associated pneumonia rate of zero for 12 or more consecutive months.

“The results of Memorial Hospital highlight the dedication to patient care and quality improvement,” said Vera A. De Palo, MD, Associate Chief of Medicine at Memorial Hospital and a Rhode Island ICU Collaborative Clinical Consultant.

Intensive care units use tremendous resources and the latest medical technology to serve the sickest patients, and are areas with great opportunity to prevent death and reduce costs.

The Rhode Island Quality Institute, in partnership with Healthcentric Advisors (formerly Quality Partners of RI), the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, and RI acute care hospitals, initiated the Rhode Island ICU Collaborative. The RI ICU Collaborative has positively impacted the care provided to more than 16,000 patients in 263 hospital ICU beds across the state. Rhode Island is the first in the nation to engage every hospital and cover every adult ICU bed in the state in a collaborative improvement effort.