Cardinal Health funds patient safety initiatives

Cardinal Health has announced a first-of-its-kind funding programme to provide support for patient safety initiatives.

The firm will provide grants totalling $1 million (507,000 pounds) to 34 organisations conducting new and innovative programmes to enhance patients safety and quality of care.

Institutions supported by the programme include hospitals, health systems and community health clinics across the country, with grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000.

Programmes supported by the programme include efforts to reduce Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus infection, the creation of a national clinical outcomes database for anaesthesiology and the use of pre-labelled and pre-filled insulin pens.

In total, around 700 of the hospitals in the US – equal to more than ten per cent – applied for grants from the company, with the firm looking for those responding to a clearly-identified high priority safety issue, those using new thinking and approaching, those that can be replicated elsewhere and collaborative schemes.

R Kerry Clark, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said: “Fixing healthcare is not a simple task, but we have it within our control to take simple steps that can have a dramatic effect.”

He added that the healthcare industry can use quality improvements as a means of providing safer care at a lower cost.

Last week, Cardinal Health announced a three year deal with TCHRx to offer automated pharmaceutical storage and dispensing systems to improve accuracy and efficiency in long-term care pharmacies.