State Resources

Sites for All Participating Hospitals

Welcome to the Great Lakes Partners for Patients Hospital Participation Site
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA), Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) and Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) have partnered to launch a unique initiative to assist our members in reducing hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) and readmissions under the new national Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) program.

About Us
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center has been awarded a two-year contract (with an optional third year based on performance) Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Together with IHA and WHA, this forms the Great Lakes Partners for Patients HIIN. The Great Lakes Partners for Patients partnership will build on the quality improvement work of the MHA, IHA and WHA through CMS’ national Partnership for Patients Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) 1.0 and 2.0, contracts awarded from 2011 to 2015.

Scope of Work
Over the next three years, Great Lakes Partners for Patients hospitals will focus on implementing person and family engagement practices, enhance antimicrobial stewardship, build cultures of high reliability, reduce readmissions and address the following 11 types of inpatient harm:

  • Adverse drug events
  • Central line-associated blood stream infections
  • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
  • Clostridium difficile bacterial infection, including antibiotic stewardship
  • Injury from falls and immobility
  • Pressure ulcers
  • Sepsis and septic shock
  • Surgical site infections
  • Venous thromboembolism
  • Ventilator-associated events
  • Readmissions

Why Participate?
The Great Lakes Partners for Patients gives participating hospitals the opportunity to share solutions that have been successful in rural, urban and suburban communities across Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. The partnership allows us to continue implementing innovations necessary to achieve goals to prevent harm, save lives and lower healthcare costs.

Joining the Great Lakes Partners for Patients means your hospital will have access to:

  1. High-quality resources, tools and webinars
  2. A data system to track progress on all applicable topics
  3. Shared forums to help improvement teams address barriers and provide encouragement
  4. National subject matter experts who can answer questions and offer recommendations

Additionally, you and your team will have the opportunity to:

  1. Network, both in person and virtually
  2. Train staff through a new Quality Essential Skills Training (QuEST)
  3. Benchmark across nearly 330 hospitals

Our goal through the Great Lakes Partners for Patients is to provide hospital teams with resources, networking opportunities and coaching to accelerate improvements in the quality of care delivered in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin hospitals.

Questions? Contact:
Michigan hospitals: keystone@mha.org
Illinois hospitals: ihen@team-iha.org
Wisconsin hospitals: qualityteam@wha.org

About the MHA Keystone Center
The MHA Keystone Center is a nonprofit organization that brings patient safety experts and hospitals together to work in collaborative programs to improve patient safety and healthcare quality and to reduce medical errors. To date, the center has been funded by MHA-member hospitals, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, visit www.mhakeystonecenter.org. Follow the MHA Keystone Center on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About IHA’s Institute for Innovations in Care and Quality
The Institute is a strategic center actively engaged in implementing evidence-based quality and safety initiatives while creating innovative member programs to measurably strengthen the quality of healthcare across Illinois. It aims to inform, empower and lead IHA members in advancing Illinois as a person-centered, national model for high-value healthcare.

About WHA
The Wisconsin Hospital Association, based in Madison, advocates for the ability of its 140 hospital and health system members to lead in the provision of high quality, affordable, and accessible health care services, resulting in healthier Wisconsin communities. WHA is committed to serving member needs, keeping members informed of important local and national legislative issues, interpreting clinical and quality issues for members, providing up-to-date educational information and encouraging member participation in Association activities.