Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Raising the Bar for Quality

Occupying a five-block campus on Chicago's west side and serving an area that stretches about 15 zip codes, the hospitals of Sinai Health System aim to be a national model for the delivery of urban health care. The health care system's patient population has high rates of unemployment, teenage pregnancy and chronic diseases. Its payer mix is 60 percent Medicaid, 20 percent Medicare and 20 percent either commercial insurance or self-pay. Despite these challenges, Sinai  has elevated attention to quality, systematically  raising the bar.  One example: the board of directors and senior leadership at Sinai have focused on reducing hospital-acquired infections, with the goal of achieving performance in the top decile statewide and nationally. By using evidence-based infection reduction strategies, reviewing data regularly, participating in learning collaboratives and creating zero-defect teams, the health system has significantly reduced the rate of HAIs in adult intensive care units. From May 2010 to April 2012, the adult ICU rate for hospital-acquired central line infections was 1.53 per 1,000 central line days, and the ventilator-associated pneumonia rate for the ICU/CCU was 0.64 per 1,000 ventilator days. Collaboration among senior leadership and medical, nursing and infection control staff has been key. Sinai is among more than 200 Illinois hospitals participating in  Raising the Bar: Call to Action  campaign, one of the first major initiatives of the Illinois Hospital Association's Quality Care Institute. For more information, contact Tina Spector, vice president, quality, patient safety and disease management, at tina.spector@sinai.org.