As the National Content Developer (NCD) 1.0, Econometrica helped significantly improve the quality of healthcare in the United States.

The Partnership for Patients (PfP) is a private–public partnership designed to engage all healthcare stakeholders in discovering, refining, and spreading patient safety best practices as broadly as possible.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center, the $500 million initiative originally had two goals: to reduce nine preventable hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) by 40 percent and hospital readmissions by 20 percent by December 31, 2014.

In 2011, Econometrica and its partners were awarded a contract under PfP when HHS selected us for the NCD 1.0 project. Under this Small Business Research and Demonstration (SBRAD) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, the Econometrica Team would collect, adapt, and disseminate evidence-based tools and materials to mobilize HENs and other PfP partners and achieve rapid-cycle improvements in patient safety.

Our NCD 1.0 team developed and produced an Organization Assessment Tool to assess the root causes of readmissions and the nine core HACs, thereby helping to identify training that would reduce adverse events and readmissions. The team also:

• Convened the HENs in vibrant, powerful learning sessions.
• Implemented the Community of Practice, a web-based hub for knowledge transfer.
• Hosted weekly HEN-wide webinars to facilitate learning and collaboration.
• Monitored and collected information and ideas generated from HEN activities.
• Provided technical assistance in the production of organization-specific training materials.

The Econometrica Team worked with CMS and other Federal partners on a daily basis to change the face of healthcare in the United States. From 2010 to 2014, HENs and their 3,700 hospitals achieved 2.1 million fewer patient harms, 87,000 lives saved, and $19.8 billion in cost savings. This represents one of the most dramatic improvements in HACs seen this century.