Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Joins VHA Inc. Partnership Initiative aiming to reduce preventable conditions and improve care As part of its ongoing commitment to ensuring the very best patient care, the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital has agreed to participate in the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) led by VHA Inc., the national health care network.  As part of its Partnership for Patients initiative, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) named 26 Hospital Engagement Networks to comprise a nationwide public-private collaboration focused on reducing preventable harm by 40% and preventable readmissions by 20% in the next three years. CMS/CMMI will fund the Hospital Engagement Networks with $218 million available under the Affordable Care Act. "We want to do everything possible to ensure that all of our patients continue to receive the very best hospital care and the very best outcomes possible," said Teresa Fuller, RN, the hospital's Patient Safety Officer. "Our participation in this Partnership for Patients initiative  is one way we can be confident that we will improve patient safety, achieve those objectives and provide the highest quality care." By participating in VHA's Hospital Engagement Network, Charlotte joins hundreds of other hospitals around the country that will leverage VHA's industry-leading clinical quality improvement tools including the Leading Practice Portal™, Leading Practice Blueprints™, proprietary Rapid Adoption Networks™ and demonstrated expertise in creating and supporting peer-to-peer learning networks.   Hospitals today need to improve quality and patient safety or face the risk of incurring financial penalties imposed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).  Achieving the objectives of the Partnership for Patients would save more than 60,000 lives annually, decrease hospital injuries by 1.8 million and allow more than 1.6 million patients to recover from illness without suffering from preventable complications requiring re-hospitalization.    Fuller said the hospital will begin working with VHA in January to develop the timetable and other requirements of the work needed to address the patient safety domains on which they will focus. Next, VHA will utilize its Rapid Adoption Networks™ (RAN), the company's proprietary framework to help address the most pressing needs - in this case, reducing hospital-acquired conditions and preventable readmissions - and provide Charlotte Hungerford Hospital with the skills to rapidly realize practice changes within their organization.  This step-by-step methodology focuses on identifying and understanding specific obstacles to achieving improvements, as well as how to surmount them.   "For nearly 35 years, VHA has successfully designed, developed and implemented many clinical improvement collaboratives," said Colleen Risk, VHA's executive vice president, member networks. "Our participation in the Partnership for Patients initiative allows the company to put this expertise to critical use as it works, industry-wide, to achieve the Partnership's ambitious safety objectives." Vice President of Administration and Patient Services John Capobianco stated, "We look forward to participating with VHA in this historic initiative and appreciate the leadership and support from CMS and CMMI to help hospitals nationwide continually improve the care we give our patients." The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital is a 109 bed, general acute care hospital located in Torrington, Connecticut, that serves as a regional health care resource for 100,000 residents of Litchfield County and Northwest Connecticut. CHH offers personalized attention from an expert team of caregivers and physicians that utilize advanced technology and clinical partnerships in a convenient, safe and comfortable patient environment. One Thousand Caregivers, One Job, Your Health. Visit www.charlottehungerford.org for information.