New Hampshire hospitals have long been united in patient safety and quality improvement and have engaged in a variety of national quality improvement initiatives. Beginning with the New Hampshire Partnership for Patients initiative which was part of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiative that engaged hospitals nationwide in quality improvement efforts, New Hampshire hospitals continue their efforts to improve patient safety and the quality of care they deliver through the Eastern US Quality Improvement Collaborative (EQIC). 

EQIC is an initiative of the Healthcare Association of New York State in partnership with the Connecticut Hospital Association, Foundation for Healthy Communities/New Hampshire Hospital Association, North Carolina Healthcare Foundation, Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, Inc. and West Virginia Hospital Association.

Established in September 2020 as part of the CMS Hospital Quality Improvement Contract, the EQIC initiative supports participating hospitals’ improvement work with education, tools, resources and direct project management support. EQIC assists member hospitals to achieve the CMS goals of reducing all-cause patient harm by 9%, readmissions by 5%, adverse drug events by 13% and adverse drug events related to opioids by 7%.

EQIC supports evidence-based interventions tailored to each participating hospital’s unique needs and opportunities, while striving to seamlessly assimilate new interventions into current processes. In addition, the Collaborative supports its members in addressing additional challenges such as medication management, particularly around opioids and other high-risk drugs; reducing hospital-acquired conditions; reducing readmission by optimizing transition of care best practices; and pandemic recovery and ongoing preparedness.

To learn more about the Eastern US Quality Improvement Collaborative and the areas of focus in which participating hospitals are engaged, please visit them online at qualityimprovementcollaborative.org.