Home

New Data Show Hospitals Continue to Improve Performance on Key Patient Safety Measures and Outcomes in 2025

via Business Wire

Report projects 300,000 Americans hospitalized between April 2024 and March 2025 survived episodes of care that they wouldn’t have in 2019

Patient safety throughout hospitals and health systems across the nation continues to improve, according to a new data analysis of key safety and quality metrics from Q4 2019 to Q2 2025 released today by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Vizient®.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251204050172/en/

The analysis, which includes new data and builds on a report AHA published last September powered by Vizient data, shows that despite caring for a sicker patient population, hospitals’ focus on safety has led to improved patient outcomes and reduced infections.

Key findings

Hospitals improved patient outcomes. Hospitalized patients in Q2 2025 were nearly 30% more likely to survive than expected given the severity of their illnesses compared to Q4 2019.

Hospitals saved more lives. Based on Vizient’s analysis and national hospitalization data, the AHA projects that hospitals’ efforts to improve safety led to more than 300,000 Americans hospitalized from April 2024 through March 2025 surviving episodes of care they wouldn’t have in 2019.

Hospitals cared for more patients with greater complexity. Hospitals cared for 4% more patients in Q2 2025 than in Q4 2019. These patients also had more complex and severe conditions. Specifically, case mix index increased by 5% during this period.

Hospitals reduced infections: In Q2 2025, rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) were 24% lower than Q4 2019. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) decreased 25% during that period.

Hospitals significantly increased preventive cancer screenings: Key screenings for breast and colorectal cancer increased 95% from Q4 2019 to Q2 2025.

“Keeping patients safe is the top priority of America’s hospitals and health systems,” said AHA chief physician executive and senior vice president Chris DeRienzo, M.D. “The latest findings show that hospital teams continue to innovate and develop programs and strategies that are improving care and outcomes for the patients and communities they serve.”

“This analysis shows how meaningful benchmarked data can help hospitals identify where progress is being made and where additional attention is needed to strengthen patient safety,” said David Levine, MD, FACEP, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Data & Digital at Vizient. “As patient complexity increases, having a clear view of performance is essential for guiding improvement efforts and supporting better outcomes.”

The AHA in 2024 launched the Patient Safety Initiative, a collaborative, data-driven effort that helps hospitals and health systems work together to reinforce and accelerate patient safety efforts. The initiative provides hospitals with tools and data to advance patient safety, offers a platform for sharing their stories of improvement with peers, and highlights examples of applicable innovation that support, spread and sustain safety improvement. For more information, including examples of programs that hospitals and health systems have implemented to advance quality and safety, visit aha.org/patientsafety.

The Clinical Data Base, part of a suite of Vizient Data and Digital solutions, provides integrated quality and cost data, and advanced analytics to understand performance gaps, drive collaborative improvements and gain deeper insights that inform and equip decision makers. Vizient also convenes 12 performance improvement programs each year — such as collaboratives, benchmarking surveys and workshops — that bring providers together to share leading practices, compare performance and accelerate measurable improvement.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company, provides solutions and services to more than two-thirds of the nation’s acute care providers and more than one-third of ambulatory providers. Vizient offers proprietary data and analytics to deliver unique clinical and operational insights and a contract portfolio representing $156 billion in annual purchasing volume enabling the delivery of cost-effective care. With its acquisition of Kaufman Hall in 2024, Vizient expanded its advisory services to help providers achieve financial, clinical and operational excellence. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

About the American Hospital Association (AHA)

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.

Contacts