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Observing that 83% of respondents are addressing healthcare-acquired infections, either with a program that has achieved its goals (31%) or a program in which performance improvements are still being made (53%), Samitt once again draws our attention to the importance of the flow of information. "Healthcare organizations absolutely want zero defects, but it is hard to do in the absence of information," he says.  "When information is available, organizations seek to improve." Only 14% of respondents place the prospect of penalties for hospital-acquired infections among their top three VBP challenges, indicating a high degree of confidence in addressing the issue.

Three quarters (74%) of respondents say that their tactic of sharing knowledge about patient-safety practices continues to deliver improvements or is delivering results in a stable and satisfactory fashion. One-half (52%) are seeing safety improvements as a result of continuing efforts to communicate better during handoffs. And just as clinical quality receives a boost from the flow of digital information, so does patient safety: one quarter (25%) say that their IT-based safety checks such as the electronic medication administration record have addressed safety in a satisfactory fashion, and another 40% say that improvements continue to be made.

Four-fifths (82%) of respondents either have a program under way or have a program in place that emphasizes accountability. More than half (53%) reward quality performance. An additional 33% are investigating how to reward quality performance.