Aetna U.S. Healthcare is pumping $1 million into new initiatives to help reduce medical errors. The $1 million grant program will fund research to develop strategies to reduce medical errors and share best practices information with hospitals participating in the Aetna U.S. Healthcare network.
Aetna is positioning this effort as its managed care response to a national call to action recently issued by the Institute of Medicine for healthcare organizations to develop a national campaign to reduce medical errors. The grant will be administered through the Academic Medicine and Managed Care Forum, an alliance of 46 academic medical centers, teaching centers, pharmaceutical companies and Aetna. An advisory panel will identify research priorities and strategies to improve patient safety. Grants will be awarded through an independent peer review process. Plans to produce reports designed to help participating hospitals improve their clinical performance are also under way.
(Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Jill Griffiths, 215/775-6890)