Cardinal Health Foundation Awards Grants to Improve OR Safety and Efficiency

The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced that, for the third consecutive year, it has awarded more than $1 million in grant funding to help U.S. hospitals, health systems and community health clinics improve the efficiency and quality of care.

Forty organizations in 25 states have been awarded grants ranging from $7,500 up to $37,500 as part of the 2010 Cardinal Health Foundation E3 Grant Program, which was launched in 2008 to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of healthcare nationwide. Since the grant programs inception, the Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded 108 grants totaling more than $3 million to help hospitals, health systems and clinics implement evidence-based best practices that improve patient safety and the cost effectiveness of healthcare.

The 2010 E3 Grant Program encouraged applicants to submit funding requests for projects that will either improve medication management or improve efficiency and safety within the operating room.

The Cardinal Health Foundation also this year invited E3 Grant Program applicants to apply for scholarships to attend professional development programs hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). As a result, the Cardinal Health Foundation awarded scholarships to help individuals from 37 heathcare facilities attend IHI professional development programs that will teach them how to create a culture of safety within their organizations.

"By improving medication and operating room safety and efficiency, healthcare providers can dramatically reduce healthcare costs and even more importantly, they can save lives," says Shelley Bird, executive vice president of public affairs for Cardinal Health and chairperson of the Cardinal Health Foundation. "The Cardinal Health Foundation is proud to support the innovative work of our 2010 E3 Grant Program winners, and we believe their efforts will lead to direct and long-lasting improvements in health care efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality."

Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for projects that will improve operating room safety and efficiency are as follows:

CAMC Institute; Charleston, W.Va.; Vascular Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Study (VSAPS)

Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center; Cincinnati, Ohio; Developing Procedural Competency through Video-Assisted Assessment of Pediatric Airway Management

Grady Health System Foundation; Atlanta, Ga.; Operating Room Safety

Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley; Kingston, N.Y.; Operating Room Culture of Safety at Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley

Holy Spirit Health System; Camp Hill, Pa.; Lean Healthcare: Improving efficiency and patient flow in the Operating Room

Johns Hopkins Heath System; Baltimore, Md.; Prevention of Surgical Site Infections Utilizing Intra-Operative Cameras to Improve Operative Practices

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System; Houston, Texas; Impact of SSCL Use on Surgical Complications

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; New York, N.Y.; Multiphase Targeted Intervention to Increase Staff Communication of Patient and Safety Concerns in the Operating Room

Rhode Island Hospital; Providence, R.I.; Marking in the Universal Protocol: Enhancing Time-Outs (MUP-ET)

Saint Alphonsus Family Maternity Center; Boise, Idaho; Labor & Delivery Universal Surgical Team

Saint Peters University Hospital; New Brunswick, N.J.; Streamlining the Patient Preoperative Process

University of Alabama at Birmingham; Birmingham, Ala.; Perioperative Patient Throughput