The Quality in Action Blog is a series for NQIIC news, produced by The Bizzell Group, the Data Validation and Administrative (DVA) contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors (NQIIC).
Alliant was featured in the September 2023 edition.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program is dedicated to improving the quality of health care at the community level. Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQICs) are strategic partners of the QIO Program that support this mission within hospitals by helping clinical teams increase patient safety, particularly preventing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Alliant Health Solutions (Alliant) is an HQIC that focuses on helping the 147 enrolled hospitals in their multistate region improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients. Alliant’s goal is to help hospitals reach and maintain zero cases of Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI).
A large rural hospital in Georgia began working with Alliant to reduce its CLABSI rate in June of 2022. In conjunction with a Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) quality improvement coach and the hospital, Alliant conducted a root-cause analysis. The analysis revealed that a large group of physicians and nurses participated in the insertion, maintenance, and removal of Central Venous Catheters (CVCs) and Peripherally Inserted Center Catheters (PICCs). Inconsistencies with insertion may have contributed to an increase in infections. To address these inconsistencies, the hospital developed a Central Line Infusion team.
When Alliant began working with the hospital, it had a baseline of five CLABSI cases (October 2020 – September 2021). With the assistance of the quality improvement coach, Alliant’s resources, and the Central Line Infusion team, the hospital achieved a Standard Infection Ratio (SIR) of 0.67 and a 71.43 percent relative improvement rate (RIR) as of October 2022. There were three CLABSIs avoided, and a methodology recommended by CMS, based on the White Paper, Draft Final Report Estimating the Additional Hospital Inpatient Cost and Mortality Associated with Selected Hospital Acquired Conditions[1], estimated a cost savings of $165,398. As of April 2023, the hospital is maintaining a 0.00 percent SIR with a 100 percent RIR.
