HHS: Better healthcare to save 60K lives

WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. government, private sector and hospital effort to reduce errors and complications is estimated to save some 60,000 lives in three years, officials say.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, joined by leaders of major hospitals, employers, health plans, physicians, nurses and patient advocates, says the Partnership for Patients will help save 60,000 lives by stopping millions of preventable injuries and complications in patient care during the next three years.

During the next 10 years, the Partnership for Patients is estimated to reduce Medicare costs by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings, Sebelius says.

"Americans go the hospital to get well, but millions of patients are injured because of preventable complications and accidents," Sebelius says in a statement. "Working closely with hospitals, doctors, nurses, patients, families and employers, we will support efforts to help keep patients safe, improve care and reduce costs."

Sebelius estimates by the end of 2013, preventable hospital-acquired conditions such as infections would decrease by 40 percent compared to 2010, resulting in approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients.