KIRKLAND, Wash.- EvergreenHealth is one of 47 medical centers in Washington state to participate this year in the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) Leading Edge Advanced Practice Topics (LEAPT) program, which encourages participating health systems to find new ways to reduce patient harm, and to spread those best practices across the country.

The year-long LEAPT program brings together groups of hospitals to develop and pilot leading-edge practices across 12 focus areas that are key to reducing patient harm. The strategies will then be shared locally and nationally to improve health care delivery across the country. This innovative work is being led by the federal Partnership for Patients initiative.

"By joining the LEAPT initiative, we are pledging to make health care safer, more reliable and less costly," said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. "We are committed to continuously evaluating and improving how we offer the highest quality health care and services at EvergreenHealth, and the LEAPT program allows us to be transparent in sharing this commitment with our patients and colleagues, and to set an example for health systems across the United States."

As part of the initiative, EvergreenHealth is developing evidence-based, leading-edge practice bundles for processes that are at high risk for causing patient harm and piloting safety outcomes programs. EvergreenHealth is focusing on three areas for the initiative: severe sepsis and septic shock, safety across the board, and undue exposure to radiation.

WSHA is one of just six hospital engagement networks in the nation selected for the program by the Partnership for Patients initiative. The year-long nationwide program works to expand and share knowledge in several important areas of patient harm, focusing on areas important to clinicians and patients.

"When it comes to its hospitals, Washington state residents have a lot to be proud of," said Carol Wagner, WSHA senior vice president for patient safety. "Hospitals and health systems like EvergreenHealth are helping to develop evidence-driven best clinical practices. Developments like these are the path toward safer, less costly health care for everyone in our state, and ultimately, in our country."

LEAPT began on Sept. 26, 2013 and will continue through Dec. 8, 2014. Participating organizations report monthly on the progress and successes of each initiative and at three key milestones throughout the program.

LEAPT is part of the Partnership for Patients initiative implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a nationwide collaborative effort to reduce the number of hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and hospital readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2014.

More information about the LEAPT program is available from the Washington State Hospital Association. Visit www.evergreenhealth.com for more information about EvergreenHealth.

About EvergreenHealth 

EvergreenHealth is an integrated health care system that serves nearly 850,000 residents in King and Snohomish counties. Formed as a public hospital district in 1972, EvergreenHealth is now a 318-bed acute care hospital and health system located in Kirkland and includes 24-hour Level III trauma emergency and critical care. EvergreenHealth also provides primary, urgent, specialty and 24/7 emergency care at its EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Redmond and operates nine primary care clinics, an additional urgent care center in Woodinville and a senior clinic. More than 950 physicians on EvergreenHealth's medical staff provide clinical excellence within more than 70 specialties, including cardiac, surgical, orthopedic, cancer, neurological, neonatal, hospice, pulmonary, sleep, and home-health care. In addition to clinical care, EvergreenHealth offers extensive community health outreach and education programs, anchored by the 24/7 EvergreenHealth Nurse Navigator & Healthline. EvergreenHealth is partners with Virginia Mason Medical Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

For more information, visit www.evergreenhealth.com.