June 04, 2010 03:12am EST 

Kentucky’s hospitals are the lifeblood of the community. They treat more than 2 million patients in their emergency departments, welcome more than 54,000 babies to the world, have over 6 million outpatient visits, and host over 600,000 on an inpatient basis visits each year. They also provide 64,649 jobs and $3 billion in annual payroll every year. With such a high degree of impact and responsibility, Kentucky hospitals have turned to the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) for representation and advocacy. KHA is an association that represents hospitals, related health care organizations, and health care systems dedicated to sustaining and improving the health status of the citizens of Kentucky. They aim to become an association that represents and serves its members, involving other health care facilities, physician groups and other medical professional corporations in their goals. Providing leadership and assistance to their members, KHA aims to represent and advocate for the interests of hospitals in the development and implementation of health policies that enhance their ability to deliver health care services to their communities. They also provide services to hospitals that assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities in a cost-effective manner and establish affiliations to augment and support the programs of KHA and its subsidiaries.
An example of KHA’s commitment to better health care in Kentucky is found in their pioneering initiative named the “Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.” The new organization will improve the quality and safety of health care services delivered to all Kentuckians. The KIPSQ collects patient safety work product that is voluntarily submitted by healthcare providers for inclusion in our database. KIPSQ avails each entity to its own data and allows the entity to expand on its collected work product in a dynamic web-based computer system. This enables the entity to analyze its own data. KIPSQ focuses on the processes involved, rather than the people involved. The initiative will preserve the privilege of self-improvement and provide a network with other facilities to improve the quality of healthcare in the state of Kentucky. KIPSQ is just another example of how KHA represents and advocates for Kentucky hospitals and provide quality, accessible healthcare to all Kentuckians.

You can find more information about KIPSQ and the KHA by logging on to their websites for more information.