Hopkins professor wins national health award
Sometimes patients are saved not by the most expensive drug or the newest piece of equipment, but by a simple checklist. Peter Pronovost, developer and advocate for a checklist used by doctors to prevent intravenous line infections in intensive care units, was recently honored with a 2010 Health Quality Award from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for his innovative approach to patient safety. Past winners have included Hillary Clinton, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher.
"Dr. Pronovost is a world leader in improving patient safety for a reason - he has the vision, dedication and leadership to make meaningful changes in how care is delivered to patients," NCQA President Margaret O'Kane said in a statement. "With this award, NCQA honors his life-saving success improving health care quality."
Though inserting an intravenous line is an everyday activity in an intensive care unit, Provonost found that doctors and other health professionals were often cutting corners and skipping essential safety steps that could prevent serious line infection.
The checklist Provonost created is simple: Have doctors wash their hands, wear masks, hats, gowns and gloves, clean their patient's skin with chlorhexidine, a type of antiseptic, place sterile drapes on the patient and put on a sterile dressing once the catheter insertion is complete.
When doctors in a study complied with the list, infection rates didn't simply decrease, but dropped to zero, saving patients' lives and valuable resources. It is estimated that using this checklist nationally could save up to 28,000 lives and $3 billion in health care costs. The checklist was tested at Hopkins and at over 100 ICUs in Michigan. Now the biggest challenge is encouraging other hospitals to adopt the checklist, not just in the U.S. but internationally through groups like the World Health Organization.
Every year the NCQA, a private, non-profit organization that has been working to improve health care for 20 years, gives yearly Health Quality Awards to doctors, policymakers, organizations and advocates who make strides in improving health care.
"Dr. Pronovost is a world leader in improving patient safety for a reason - he has the vision, dedication and leadership to make meaningful changes in how care is delivered to patients," NCQA President Margaret O'Kane said in a statement. "With this award, NCQA honors his life-saving success improving health care quality."
Though inserting an intravenous line is an everyday activity in an intensive care unit, Provonost found that doctors and other health professionals were often cutting corners and skipping essential safety steps that could prevent serious line infection.
The checklist Provonost created is simple: Have doctors wash their hands, wear masks, hats, gowns and gloves, clean their patient's skin with chlorhexidine, a type of antiseptic, place sterile drapes on the patient and put on a sterile dressing once the catheter insertion is complete.
When doctors in a study complied with the list, infection rates didn't simply decrease, but dropped to zero, saving patients' lives and valuable resources. It is estimated that using this checklist nationally could save up to 28,000 lives and $3 billion in health care costs. The checklist was tested at Hopkins and at over 100 ICUs in Michigan. Now the biggest challenge is encouraging other hospitals to adopt the checklist, not just in the U.S. but internationally through groups like the World Health Organization.
Every year the NCQA, a private, non-profit organization that has been working to improve health care for 20 years, gives yearly Health Quality Awards to doctors, policymakers, organizations and advocates who make strides in improving health care.
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