Nebraska Hospital Association recognizes Saunders Medical Center for their hard work and dedication to improving patient care.

LINCOLN, NEB. – Saunders Medical Center in Wahoo, Nebraska was recently recognized by the Nebraska Hospital Association
for their work to improve quality of care as part of national Partnership for Patients’ Hospital Improvement
Innovation (HIIN) Network initiative. The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) and 69 Nebraska
hospitals partner with The Health Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association
(HRET) in this important work. The AHA is one of 16 national, regional, or state hospital associations,
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO), and health system organizations selected by Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to work on the Partnership for Patients initiative, reducing
preventable hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions. The HIIN’s goal is to achieve a 20 percent
decrease in overall patient harm and a 12 percent reduction in 30-day hospital readmissions as a
population-based measure (readmissions per 1,000 people) from the 2014/2015 baseline. Efforts focus
on consistently providing high quality care to the individuals in each community in Nebraska.

During the first year of the HIIN, October 2016-October 2017, Nebraska’s 69 hospitals demonstrated
improvement in reducing patient harm including an estimated:
 3,672 patient harms prevented
 310 lives saved
 $27.3 million in cost avoidance

The Partnership for Patients model was one of the first models established in 2011 to be tested under the
authority of section 1115A of the Social Security Act with the goal of reducing program expenditures while
preserving or enhancing the quality of care. Since the launch of Partnership for Patients and the work of
Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks in collaboration with many other stakeholders, the vast
majority of U.S. hospitals have delivered results as demonstrated by the achievement of unprecedented
national reductions in harm.

For more information on the Partnership for Patients and the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks,
please visit partnershipforpatients.cms.gov.

The Nebraska Hospital Association is the unified voice for Nebraska’s hospitals and health systems. The
association offers collaborative leadership, assisting its members to provide comprehensive care to their
communities, improving the health status of those communities. For more information, visit the NHA
website at www.NebraskaHospitals.org .

For information, contact Brian Noonan, senior director of communications and education at 402-742-8151
or bnoonan@nebraskahospitals.org.

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2020 Quest for Excellence Award CAH Division | Saunders Medical Center
In Recognition of Outstanding Work in the Area of Hospital Quality And Performance Improvement.

Denise Sabatka | Director of Quality Management & Strategic Initiatives, Nicole Akers | MD, Kevin Stange| Director of Pharmacy, Destiny Bader | Director of Nursing, Julie Rezac | Chief Executive Officer, and Stacie Sabatka | Clinic Director were presented the award by Margaret Woeppel MSN, RN CPHQ | Vice President, Quality & Data with the Nebraska Hospital Association.