How a cutting-edge hospital project helped save more than 11,000 SUS patients

An unprecedented initiative involving some of the country’s most renowned hospitals is helping them improve the services they provide Unique Health System (SUS) and save lives. Health in Our Hands has already prevented 11,243 hospital infections and saved more than 4,000 lives since it was created five years ago, according to an unprecedented survey published this week.

The initiative is from the Ministry of Health, in partnership with hospitals German Oswaldo CruzAnd The Portuguese benefactor of Sao PauloAnd HCorAnd Albert EinsteinAnd Windmills that it Lebanese Syrian, all of them with international accreditation. Specialists at these hospitals train colleagues in more than 300 intensive care units (ICUs) of the SUS in best practices for controlling nosocomial infections—one of the biggest problems in closed units.

“When we treat very high-risk patients, nothing is simple: handling a ventilator, changing catheters, handling a patient, everything is very high risk,” explained HCor CEO Fernando Torelli, representative of hospitals in the SUS program. . “We go to hospitals, train teams, rehabilitate them, monitor hospital infection indicators, and help implement our hospital protocols. This includes team hygiene, patient handling, among other things. In doing so, we reach the gold standard, which is equivalent to the best hospitals in the world, with lower number of injuries.”

Within five years, the project has generated R$548 million in savings for the public treasury, according to the Ministry of Health. In the past 18 months alone, 3,764 cases of infection have been prevented, 1,434 lives saved and R$230,500,178 saved. According to program data, for every R$1.00 invested, the project generates R$4.14 in savings for SUS. And these results could be even more impactful, as the current cycle ends in December this year. In the long term, it is expected to contribute to changing the culture of health organizations with regard to patient safety.

“When a patient gets an infection in the hospital, they stay longer in the hospital, and they spend more public money,” Torelli explained. “In addition, he occupies a bed that another patient could use.”

The money for the implementation of the training comes from the tax exemption that the government provides to hospitals. Instead of paying certain taxes, they can choose to invest in certain programs. In the case of HCor, for example, the amount is R$60 million, according to Torelli.