Polk Medical Center has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Safety Leaders Circle, which recognizes hospitals’ improvements in patient care throughout the 2012 year.

Polk Medical Center is one of 11 hospitals in Georgia to place in the Chairman’s Circle, one of the highest categories on the list.

Polk Medical Center is a participant in the GHA HEN, an initiative begun last year that is part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Partnership for Patients.

GHA, through its Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA), received federal funding to coordinate a series of goal-related projects with hospitals. The goals are to reduce hospital- acquired conditions by 40 percent and hospital readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2013.

According to CMS, these initiatives have the potential to save 60,000 lives annually and create $35 billion in savings to the nation’s health care system. Additionally, it can help prevent 1.8 million injuries and 1.6 million patient readmissions.

To achieve these goals, there CMS targeted improved care in 10 core measures related to hospital-acquired infections, hospital-acquired conditions, obstetrics and reduction of readmissions. Scores for the Safety Leaders Circle were based on several criteria, including a database that measures each hospital’s improvement in the core measures they targeted.

“We are honored to be recognized by GHA for our efforts to improve patient safety and for doing our share to decrease the cost of health care in our nation,” said Kim Scoggins, Polk Medical Center Administrator. “Patient safety and welfare is always our top priority and to have that acknowledged by others within the industry truly validates the great work performed by our staff.”

“Thanks to the leadership and commitment of Polk Medical Center, we are well on our way to achieving the significant life-saving goals of this important initiative,” said Joseph Parker,

President of GHA. “We are proud to recognize the hard work of Polk Medical Center staff and applaud their efforts and commitment to ensuring the reduction of infections and readmissions.”