HIIN (Hospital Improvement Innovation Network)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) a two-year Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) contract (within an optional third year based on performance), to continue efforts to reduce all-cause inpatient harm by 20 percent and readmissions by 12 percent by 2019.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), an estimated 125,000 fewer patients died in hospitals and approximately $28 billion in healthcare costs were saved as a result of reductions in Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC).  Although the precise cause of the decline in patient harm are not fully understood, the increase in safety occurred during a period of concerted attention by hospitals throughout the country to reduce adverse events, including the work of hospitals that participated in the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) and HEN 2.0.