Our world is embracing new, more advanced technologies every day. Cars can drive themselves, our smartphones have more computing power than the Apollo rockets that landed a man on the moon, and with a wireless sensor on your fingertip we can get an accurate look at what is going on inside of you.
It is amazing what we are capable of achieving when we put our mind to it.
It may surprise you to know that, despite all of the advances made in healthcare, the third-leading cause of death in the United States is actually preventable. Medical errors take more lives than highway accidents, breast cancer and AIDS combined. What is even the more surprising is how many can be saved today by hospitals incorporating a dozen solutions that we call Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS).
Every year, we lose an astounding 200,000 to 400,000 of our loved ones to medical errors. Those who survived by the loss are quick to share that a piece of them permanently died with their loved ones, and their lives will never be the same.
What do you say to a mother who will never see her child again? To a child who will never know his mother? Their lives are changed forever and little can help them overcome the fact that the loss could have been prevented.
In addition to these losses there are hundreds of thousands who survive medical errors, but have to live with a new illness that may require a lifetime of follow-up care. Beyond the human toll, issue is costing the U.S. healthcare system close to $1.26 trillion a year. This is significantly more than what we spend on education alone in this country and 2.5 times more than what we spent on gasoline for our vehicles last year.
The Patient Safety Movement Foundation was founded on one goal: Eliminate preventable deaths by 2020. This may seem nearly impossible but the fact is that hospitals around the world have begun implementing patient safety solutions and have seen a significant reduction in many areas including healthcare-associated infections. Several hospitals and health systems have made commitments to eliminating infections in specific areas like catheter associated infections and they have lived up to those commitments by keeping infection rates at zero for over a year. At our recent Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit, we were able to report that through the commitments from only 500 hospitals, 50 medical technology companies, and 30 patient advocacy organizations, 6,412 lives were saved in 2014. Imagine what we could achieve if 1,000 or 5,000 hospitals made the commitment to ZERO.
We were honored to have former President Clinton as well as Vice President Biden provide keynotes at the Summit and to have Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona head one of our panels. The Vice President shared with the crowd, "the President and I are in the game with you. You've changed the mindset when it comes to preventable deaths. There is no reason we can't get to zero preventable deaths by 2020." Former President Clinton said, "You will move the earth if you keep up these numbers [of lives saved]."
In just two years, we have seen that with every commitment and life saved, the movement has gained momentum. Repeat attendees reported on their prior commitments and raised the bar for their organizations saying they should be doing even more. In January, the Hospital Quality Institute, which represents some 400 hospitals in California caring for 3.4 million patients annually, made three commitments; eliminate preventable deaths in maternity care, eliminate preventable death from sepsis, and eliminate hospital acquired infection; together these three commitments are expected to save more than 13,000 lives this year.
Hospitals are realizing that they don't need to reinvent the wheel. Every hospital has its strengths and weaknesses and can learn from others and save lives and money in the process. Medical technology companies are realizing that withholding data is no longer an option and that collaboration and integration are the future of the marketplace. More patients are doing their homework and gravitating toward hospitals that make safety a priority, not through words but actions.
If we come together, then in just five short years, there will be no more needless death from hospital-acquired infections. No one will make it through a procedure only to die from post-operative respiratory depression in his or her recovery room. Bloodless surgery will become the norm and red blood cell transfusions will be reduced dramatically. Washing hands before seeing patients will become automatic and transitions of care will be seamless. Together, Zero by 2020 is possible. We have the knowledge. We have the technology. We just need to commit to action.
Joe Kiani founded the nonprofit Patient Safety Movement Foundation to eradicate the 200,000-400,000 preventable patient deaths in U.S. hospitals every year. The Foundation's annual Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit brings together the worlds' leading clinicians, hospital CEOs, patient advocates and government leaders to identify the main challenges and provide tested solutions called Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS). Kiani is also the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI).
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