Illinois Hospitals and Health Systems Committed to Patient Safety & Quality


In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) issued its landmark report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, an important call to action on patient safety and quality, to which the hospital field responded.

In the 20 years since the report was released, hospitals, health systems and other healthcare providers in Illinois and across the country have made substantial progress in improving patient safety and delivering the highest quality of care.

Hospitals Actively Engaged to Reduce and Eliminate Preventable Healthcare Harms

  • Illinois hospitals are actively engaged in myriad efforts to reduce and eliminate preventable healthcare harms, including healthcare-acquired conditions, as well as to reduce preventable readmissions.
  • From 2010-2015, readmission rates at Illinois hospitals decreased 12.1%, the third largest reduction among the states nationwide.
  • Currently, 130 Illinois hospitals are working to accelerate care coordination, patient safety and quality improvement to reduce patient harms as part of a unique collaboration of hospital associations and hospitals in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin – the Great Lakes Partners for Patients – Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) – the third largest HIIN in the country.
  • This multi-year initiative builds on the learnings and successes of more than 100 Illinois hospitals and health systems that were part of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association’s (IHA’s) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN 1.0 and 2.0).
  • Illinois hospitals participating in the HEN and HIIN initiatives prevented 22,592 patient harms and saved $226.4 million in healthcare costs from 2012 to 2018.

IHA Working with Our Members to Improve Healthcare and Health of All Illinoisans

  • IHA also assists its more than 200 member hospitals and health systems in driving healthcare innovation and performance and patient safety and quality improvement with exceptional learning opportunities, analytics, programs and products through its Institute for Innovations in Care and Quality and the Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) Patient Safety Organization.
  • The Institute focuses on advancing person-centered healthcare in Illinois through evidence-based quality and safety initiatives and innovative programs to strengthen quality healthcare.
  • After many successful years partnering with the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the Wisconsin Hospital Association in the Great Lakes Partners for Patients HIIN, IHA is transitioning to a new partnership focused on federal quality initiatives—the Superior Health Quality Alliance.  
  • The Superior Health Quality Alliance—made up of IHA and seven other organizations in six Midwest states—has been selected by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to continue efforts to improve health, enhance quality of care, lower costs, and improve the healthcare worker experience as part of the Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors program.  
  • One example of IHA’s work with its members to share best practices: IHA partnered with Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington, to create a readmissions implementation playbook, highlighting the work their team has done to implement Individualized Care Plans (ICP). Over 800 ICPs have been created with a cost savings of over $4.9 million, a 61% reduction in emergency department recidivism and a 53% reduction in readmissions.
  • MAPS is a federally certified Patient Safety Organization that assists members to reduce adverse events, providing a safer healthcare experience for their patients. It leads efforts to prevent medical errors through information sharing, education and data collection analysis.
  • MAPS members have numerous training opportunities throughout the year on critical healthcare topics such as: Root cause analysis, sepsis prevention, joy in work, high reliability organizations, and diagnostic error, among others. In addition, MAPS safe tables allow members to discuss patient safety experiences, best practices and new strategies through facilitated group discussions. MAPS Annual Culture of Safety Workshops provide two days of intensive learning, with the most recent workshop focusing on Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR), a principled process for responding to patient harm. 

Hospitals Support Transparency on Patient Safety and Quality Information

  • Hospitals and health systems across Illinois support transparency about their patient safety and quality information so consumers and patients can make informed choices about their healthcare.
  • Illinois hospitals have supported transparency initiatives such as the state’s Hospital Report Card Act (2004), which established the Hospital Report Card/Consumer Guide to Health Care website, providing consumers and patients with comprehensive information about hospital quality and safety.

Hospitals Committed to Providing Patients with High-Quality, Safe and Person-Centered Care

  • For examples of the exceptional work that Illinois hospitals and health systems are actively engaged in every day to improve patient safety and quality and to address critical healthcare issues such as the opioid crisis, behavioral health and social determinants of health, see IHA’s Compendium from its 2019 Quality Advocacy Showcase and IHA’s 2019 Quality Excellence Achievement Awards.
  • Illinois hospitals are dedicated and committed to find ways to improve their safety and quality of care. We are making substantial progress but realize there is still work to be done to ensure that our patients receive the right care at the right time, with the best outcomes.