Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) had implemented new mandates related to value-based purchasing, also known as pay for performance in quality and safety. The U.S. health system had high rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). CMS set goals to reduce preventable patient harm events (“never events”) by 20% across the national health system.

Synensys provided innovative improvement programs, tools, methods, and evidence-based strategies based on the needs of over 300 hospitals across 6 improvement networks. These programs aimed to reduce preventable harm in diverse settings, including community hospitals, critical access hospitals, and academic medical centers. Programs included senior leadership toolkits, physician engagement systems, high-reliability training, StoryCare® online simulation platform, data management, culture improvement guidance, and implementation support, including coaching and mentoring.

Harm across the board was reduced by 17% in 3 years. Improvements in patient safety resulted in 1.3 million fewer patient harm events, 50,000 lives saved, and $12 billion in health spending avoided across all participating hospitals.