Announcing the 2023 Zero Harm Awards!
The South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) is proud to announce that a record number of SC hospitals won 2023 Zero Harm Awards demonstrating their commitment to best-in-class healthcare quality and patient safety. SCHA’s Zero Harm Awards recognize hospitals that have demonstrated success in implementing a culture of safety, supported the adoption of evidence-based medicine, and championed efforts to prevent adverse events and promote patient-centered care.
These awards include our flagship Certified Zero Harm Awards, which celebrate clinical achievements of zero harm, our Drive to Zero Harm Leadership Award, and a host of revolving “Priority Awards” that target timely issues of high reliability ranging from eliminating health disparities to ensuring a healthy workforce. As SCHA celebrates ten years of Zero Harm, we recognize the journey South Carolina’s hospitals are on to reduce common areas of harm and deliver highly reliable care.
This year 62 member hospitals received 295 Certified Zero Harm Awards, representing 2,649 hospital days avoided and 363 more positive patient outcomes. To see SCHA’s official announcement of the 2023 award winners, click here. The clinical-focused Certified Zero Harm Awards is a unique statewide program thanks to SCHA’s collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (SCDHEC), which independently validates the hospital data. The program is also sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which helps advance patient safety and recognize hospitals for their clinical achievements. These awards are based on real healthcare outcomes in South Carolina, demonstrating that patient safety and highly reliable care are cornerstones of the state’s hospital community.
In addition to our clinical awards, the Zero Harm program also has three Priority Awards for 2023. For the last three years, the state’s hospitals have partnered with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) for the Drive to Zero Suicide Award. This partnership has raised hospital standards to embrace Zero Harm through the adoption of specific Zero Suicide strategies, from policy and screening enhancements to better data tracking and developing formal relationships with community mental health centers. We are proud of our 24 member hospitals who met the challenge.
We also recognize 32 hospitals with the Drive to Zero Workplace Violence Award to address the increased risk of workplace violence in our facilities. Healthcare workers are five times as likely to experience workplace violence as other workers and now suffer more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, including law enforcement. Given in partnership with Antum Risk, the award recognizes facilities that are embracing Zero Harm through the adoption of specific Workplace Violence prevention strategies.
The newest Priority Award, the Drive to Zero Disparities Award is given in partnership with The Alliance for a Healthier SC and recognizes facilities that are working to reduce health disparities and promote health equity for patients through the adoption of specific priorities as outlined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Equity Reporting Guidelines. These include expanding the collection of data on race, ethnicity, language, disability status, and other factors that can contribute to health disparities so we can address inequities in policies and operations to close these gaps. This year, 13 member hospitals received the award in recognition of the early adoption of these health equity priorities.
“The Zero Harm program is a significant tool for advancing high-quality healthcare and a culture of safety in the state’s hospitals,” says Karen Reynolds, Executive Director of Innovation and Acceleration at SCHA. “South Carolina has developed a blueprint for reducing avoidable harm in our healthcare facilities by encouraging hospitals to develop a network for communicating and sharing best practices.”
For more information about the entire Zero Harm program, click here.