ECRI Institute and Health Care Improvement Foundation Launch CT Radiation Safety Collaborative

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ —
ECRI Institute, an
independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to
improving patient care, and the Health Care Improvement
Foundation, an independent nonprofit corporation with a
multi-dimensional focus on healthcare safety, announce the launch
of a new Partnership for Patient Care regional collaborative
focused on improving CT radiation safety. Jointly funded by area
hospitals and Independence Blue Cross, this collaborative will
engage hospitals and imaging centers in Philadelphia and
surrounding counties in a 12-month project aimed at strengthening
patient safety specific to CT imaging.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110112/DC29081LOGO)

“The overall goal of this program is for 100% of the
participants to be actively monitoring recorded CT radiation doses
in order to deliver doses that are as low as reasonably
achievable,” said Kathy Shostek, senior risk management analyst,
ECRI Institute, and the program’s manager.

CT radiation dose can result in unnecessarily high exposures,
placing patients at increased risk of cancer and other conditions.
Inappropriate radiation doses nationally have raised public
concerns and attracted attention in the media recently. Specific
strategies for this program will focus on addressing factors
related to inappropriate or excessive radiation doses and
implementing practices that optimize CT studies.

The Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) is a multi-year patient
safety collaborative among the Health Care Improvement Foundation,
Independence Blue Cross, and healthcare organizations across
Southeastern Pennsylvania. The PPC’s objective is to accelerate the
effective adoption of evidence-based clinical practices by pooling
the resources, knowledge, and efforts of provi

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