Colorado Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) Project

Colorado Hospital Association

In 2017, CHA and its partners developed the Colorado Opioid Safety Pilot, a study that was conducted in 10 hospital emergency departments (EDs) over a six-month span with a goal of reducing the administration of opioids in those EDs by 15 percent. The cohort of 10 participating sites achieved an average 36 percent reduction in the administration of opioids during those six months, as well as a 31.4 percent increase in the administration of alternatives to opioids (ALTOs). Based on the success of the pilot, CHA has launched the Colorado ALTO Project to implement this program in all hospital EDs.

Improving the Measurement of Surgical Site Infection Risk Stratification/Outcome Detection

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

The purpose of this project was to explore opportunities for enhancing the detection and surveillance of inpatient-acquired surgical site infections (SSIs) for four target procedures—herniorrhaphy, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and hip and knee arthroplasty (including primary total arthroplasty, primary hemiarthroplasty, and revision procedures). Four delivery systems came together in order to provide the most representative results and generalizable tools. Collaborating delivery systems include Denver Health (a safety-net hospital located in Denver, CO), Intermountain Healthcare (a large, nonprofit, integrated delivery system based in Salt Lake City, UT), and the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center (a VAMC hospital located in Salt Lake City); representativeness was further extended by including the Vail Valley Medical Center (Vail, CO), a Denver Health partner. A major focus of the project was to test the usefulness of computer algorithms that could alert infection control specialists to patients likely to have surgical site infections on the basis of retrospective analysis of electronic medical records, laboratory test results, and patient demographics.

Building an Organizational Response to Health Disparities: Five Pioneers from the Field

Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of Minority Health (OMH)

Learn how five organizations have made a business case for addressing disparities in health care quality and access. Organizations such as hospitals, health plans, health systems, and others may see their own motivations and challenges reflected in these examples. These case studies increase the evidence base for health organizations in support of building a business case to reduce health disparities.

U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (National Action Plan)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

The National Action Plan directs federal agencies to accelerate response to antibiotic resistance by presenting coordinated, strategic actions to improve the health and well-being of all Americans across the One Health spectrum. It has pushed transformative improvements across the country that strengthen and expand the ability to respond to these threats. The National Action Plan supports five main goals: 1. Slow the Emergence of Resistant Bacteria and Prevent the Spread of Resistant Infections; 2. Strengthen National One Health Surveillance Efforts to Combat Resistance; 3. Advance Development and Use of Rapid and Innovative Diagnostic Tests for Identification and Characterization of Resistant Bacteria; 4. Accelerate Basic and Applied Research and Development for New Antibiotics, Other Therapeutics, and Vaccines; and 5. Improve International Collaboration and Capacities for Antibiotic-Resistance Prevention, Surveillance, Control and Antibiotic Research and Development.