Texas Center for Quality Receives Grant from TDSHS
AUSTIN (Nov. 17, 2010) – The Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety, an affiliate of the Texas Hospital Association’s nonprofit foundation, has received a grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services to expand patient safety initiatives in Texas hospitals.
The $266,000 grant will allow TCQPS to enroll additional hospitals in a current project designed to reduce or eliminate central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units. In addition, the grant will help fund a project in conjunction with TMF Health Quality Institute to reduce surgical site infection rates. The grant funding was made available to TDSHS through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“With mandatory reporting of health care-associated infections just around the corner, these programs give hospitals the tools they need to make significant quality improvements, while at the same time sharing best practices and learning from other facilities across the state,” said Terri Conner, Ph.D., vice president of TCQPS.
The Texas Legislature mandated reporting of certain health care-associated infections in 2007, but a lack of state funding has hampered the data collection process. Hospitals are expected to begin submitting HAI data, as required by state law, beginning in July 2011.
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About the Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety
The Texas Center for Quality & Patient Safety, formed in 2010 as an initiative of the Texas Hospital Association’s 501(c)3 foundation, brings together hospitals, state and national patient safety experts, and evidence-based best practices to improve patient safety and reduce costs by enhancing the quality of care delivered. Learn more at www.texashospitalquality.org.
About the Texas Hospital Association
Founded in 1930, the Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care systems. Based in Austin, THA enhances its members’ abilities to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. One of the largest hospital associations in the country, THA represents more than 85 percent of the state’s acute-care hospitals and health care systems, which employ some 355,000 health care professionals statewide. Learn more at www.tha.org or follow THA on Twitter at http://twitter.com/texashospitals.
