Contacts General Contact Steve McLean Public Relations & Corporate Communications Manager, Qualis Health 206.366.3371

Frequently Asked Questions
(updated May 21, 2005)

What is the 100k Lives Campaign?
What are the interventions associated with the 100k Lives Campaign?
How do we know these interventions will work?
How do we know these interventions will work?
What are the benefits of joining the Campaign?
What is the cost to take part in the Campaign?
What are the data submission requirements for enrolled hospitals and systems?
How does a hospital enroll, and what does enrolling in the Campaign mean?
What resources will be made available to hospitals through the Campaign?
If a hospital cannot commit to implementing all six interventions, will it still be considered a full member of the Campaign?
What is the Washington Campaign Network?
Can Critical Access Hospitals participate in the Campaign?

What is the 100k Lives Campaign?

• The Campaign is a nationwide initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), launched in December 2004 by Dr. Donald Berwick, President and CEO of IHI.
• The goal of the Campaign is to save 100,000 lives by June 2006, by introducing six evidence-based quality improvement changes in about 2000 U.S. hospitals.
• The Campaign has been endorsed by a wide variety of national health care organizations, including CMS, AMA, JCAHO, and many others.

What are the interventions associated with the 100k Lives Campaign?
There are six evidence-based quality improvement changes at the core of the 100k Lives Campaign. To participate, hospitals have to commit to working on at least one of the six. They are:

1. Prevent deaths in patients who are progressively failing outside the ICU by implementing Rapid Response Teams
2. Prevent deaths among patients hospitalized for AMI by ensuring the reliable delivery of evidence-based care
3. Prevent Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) by implementing medication reconciliation
4. Prevent central venous catheter-related blood stream infection by implementing a set of interventions known as the “central line bundle”
5. Prevent surgical site infection by reliably implementing a set of interventions known as the “SSI bundle”
6. Prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia and other complications in patients on ventilators by reliably implementing a set of interventions known as the “ventilator bundle.”

How do we know these interventions will work?

• IHI has developed annotated bibliographies of the evidence base for each of the six recommended quality improvement changes. These bibliographies are available through IHI’s website at www.ihi.org/campaign.
• IHI has also gathered success narratives for each of the interventions. All materials are available free-of-charge at www.ihi.org/campaign.

What are the benefits of joining the Campaign?

• First, implementing Campaign interventions will save lives. Enrolling means joining thousands of hospitals across the country to save 100,000 American lives by June 2006.
• Second, the Campaign has generated significant excitement among members of the media, the health care community, and the general public alike. Joining the Campaign will let people know that your hospital values and delivers high quality health care.
• Third, joining the Campaign will provide you with access to local Campaign resources and technical assistance provided by members of the Washington Campaign Network.

What is the cost to take part in the Campaign?

• There is absolutely no cost to enroll in the 100k Lives Campaign. In addition, all campaign resources and materials are available free-of-charge on the IHI website at www.ihi.org/campaign, under the “materials” tab.
• Cost to implement the Campaign interventions will vary from organization to organization. In some cases, hospitals are already working on Campaign quality improvement areas, and so additional cost will be minimal. For example, JCAHO accredited hospitals are already working on mediation reconciliation in order to comply with 2005 National Patient Safety Goals.

What are the data submission requirements for enrolled hospitals and systems?

• Data submission requirements are minimal. IHI is asking enrolled hospitals and systems to submit hospital-specific raw mortality data—deaths and discharges (for all patients)—broken down by month.
• Hospital-specific data submitted to IHI will not be published, though hospital-specific raw mortality data is eventually publicly available through the Washington statewide CHARS system.

How does a hospital enroll, and what does enrolling in the Campaign mean?

• There is no cost to enroll in the 100k Lives Campaign, and signing up is very simple. Simply complete a one-page enrollment form, available at www.ihi.org/campaign, under the “Sign up” tab, and either fax or email the completed form to IHI at (617) 301-4848 or 100k@ihi.org.
• Enrolling in the Campaign means that a hospital or system will publicly acknowledge its involvement in the Campaign and select one or more of the core Campaign interventions. The hospital or system will agree to implement these improvements and commit to reporting mortality data.

What resources will be made available to hospitals through the Campaign?
A wide variety of detailed and useful resources are available for download on IHI’s website at www.ihi.org/campaign, under the “materials” tab:

• General materials include: campaign brochures, a customizable press release, informational PowerPoint presentation, and Don Berwick’s 2004 National Forum presentation materials.
• Intervention-specific materials include: intervention summaries, how-to guides on implementing the interventions, intervention-specific PowerPoint presentations, annotated bibliographies detailing the scientific evidence base for each intervention, and improvement narratives for each intervention.
• IHI has held intervention-specific informational conference calls for Campaign participants. Recordings of these calls are available on the IHI website.
• Additional assistance from local resources such as WSHA, Qualis Health and hospitals sharing with each other effective and efficient ways to implement the changes will also be available.

If a hospital cannot commit to implementing all six interventions, will it still be considered a full member of the Campaign?

• Yes. To be recognized as a full member of the 100k Lives Campaign, a hospital must commit to implementing at least one of the six recommended quality improvement changes. IHI is interested in promoting Campaign participation among as large a number of hospitals as possible, and thus an inability to implement all six interventions should not be a barrier to any hospital’s participation.

What is the Washington Campaign Network?

• The organizations facilitating the 100k Lives Campaign Washington Network are: Qualis Health, the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU)/1199, the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives, and Virginia Mason Medical Center.
• These organizations will provide state level support for hospitals’ quality improvement efforts and will provide local Campaign technical assistance. In addition, members of this Campaign facilitation group will help promote Campaign participation within Washington, and will create opportunities for local exchange of ideas and joint problem solving on Campaign issues.

Can Critical Access Hospitals participate in the Campaign?

• Absolutely. The 100k Lives Campaign represents a unique opportunity for Critical Access Hospitals in Washington to distinguish themselves as leaders in providing high quality health care.
• Some of the IHI-recommended interventions are less relevant for Critical Access Hospitals, but some of them, such as medication reconciliation, may actually be easier to implement in a small-hospital setting. Critical Access Hospitals deliver excellent quality care, and other patient safety and quality initiatives have often excluded them. The IHI 100k Lives Campaign is an excellent opportunity for Critical Access Hospitals to join other hospitals nationally to save lives by improving care quality.

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