Bon Secours St. Francis & Ghs Effort Shows Innovation Improves Health Care

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) said that Upstate hospitals' recognition for improving quality, safety and affordability of patient care shows innovation by health care leaders can improve quality and lower costs.

"This shows the private market can innovate faster than the federal government," Inglis said. "It's exciting to see facilities from the Upstate community improving patient care and changing the way they do health care."

Bon Secours St. Francis - Downtown, Bon Secours St. Francis - Eastside and Hillcrest Memorial (Greenville Hospital System) were recognized as three of the 32 participating hospitals for their achievements in the QUEST High-Performing Hospital collaborative, a three-year project of 157 participants across 31 states aimed at saving lives, safely reducing the cost of care for each individual's hospitalization and delivering the most reliable and effective care.

St. Francis and GHS were two of the stops on Rep. Inglis' comprehensive health care tour across the Fourth District last year.

The 157 hospitals participating in QUEST included urban/rural, large/small and teaching/non-teaching facilities. As participants, Bon Secours St. Francis -- Downtown, Bon Secours St. Francis -- Eastside and Hillcrest Hospital have worked to overcome the main factors that lead to preventable deaths, errors and excessive costs, and transparently measure themselves against other hospitals to achieve top performance based on the following goals:

* Save lives: Eliminate avoidable hospital mortalities
* Safely reduce the cost of care: Reduce the costs for each patient's hospitalization
* Deliver the most reliable and effective care: Ensure that patients receive every recommended evidence-based care measure

As a group, QUEST hospitals across the country have saved approximately 8,040 lives, reduced costs by $577 million and provided 24,818 additional patients with all evidence-based appropriate care. According to an analysis of these Year 1 results, if all hospitals were to achieve the improvements found among the QUEST participants, they could save an estimated 52,760 lives and $1.16 billion in costs. In addition, 27,771 more patients could receive all recommended care.

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