Checklist Saves Lives and Money

Steps to cut down on bloodstream infections not only save lives but cut hospital costs as well. That’s the conclusion of a study focusing on a checklist program implemented throughout the state of Michigan. The checklist was devised by Dr. Peter Pronovost at Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. It involves five crucial items including washing hands, wearing sterile gloves, masks and gowns, not placing catheters in the groin region, cleaning the insertion site with an antiseptic solution and removing catheters as soon as they are no longer essential.
Although the program costs over $150,000 per hospital to implement, the average savings exceed $1 million per hospital annually. This is in addition to the lives saved. Dr. Pronovost and his colleagues are in the process of rolling out their checklist program across the country and internationally. Saving money and saving lives seems like a win-win proposition.
[American Journal of Medical Quality, Sept/Oct, 2011]