The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Surgical Infection Prevention Project in 2002. The groups developed performance measures regarding perioperative antibiotic use to prevent surgical site infections. Other organizations have since adopted these measures. Spectrum Health, a not-for-profit health system in western Michigan with seven hospitals, more than 140 service sites, and a 565,000-member health insurance plan, formed an interdisciplinary quality improvement team to meet a goal of 100% adherence at two of its acute care hospitals in the city of Grand Rapids. Eighteen months later, process shifts had been achieved, demonstrating that a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach can result in consistent perioperative antibiotic utilization.

Patient safety is rapidly becoming everyone's responsibility. Bedside clinicians, physicians, and ancillary and administrative staff are well aware of their roles in patient safety, but patients and their families are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about potential safety issues related to hospitalization. This article describes how a Midwestern regional health care system enhances safety for its hospitalized patients through a program called "Condition Concern," designed to provide patients and their families/friends with a quick, convenient method for reporting unattended care concerns. The program's structure is described along with postimplementation findings to date.