UC San Diego’s Greg Maynard leads a UC project to reduce dangerous blood clots (venous thromboembolism, or VTE) that prevented an estimated 140 VTE occurrences for a savings of $1.45 million in 2013.

A University of California center that fosters health care innovation at UC’s five medical centers is proving to be a boon to both patient health and the bottom line.

A report assessing the impact of grants made by the Center for Health Quality and Innovation (CHQI) found that UC’s investment is paying off with improvements such as fewer blood clots and improved post-surgery care at UC hospitals. Based on current cost savings, revenues and additional funds received, the projected net financial gain of the center’s grants by 2016 will be about $40 million from a $7.3 million allocation from UC medical centers — a return on investment of more than 5 to 1.

“The investment has been a good one,” said Dr. John Stobo, UC Health senior vice president and CHQI chairman. “The innovation center has done a lot of good in terms of improving quality and saving costs.”

CHQI was established in 2010 to foster innovations developed at UC medical center campuses and hospitals in order to improve quality, access and value in the delivery of health care. To date, the center has issued a total of 50 grants. In addition to funding from UC’s five medical centers, CHQI also has awarded $7.7 million it received from the UC Office of Risk Services for grants designed to reduce the risk of clinical harm to UC patients.

“We’ve been able to support innovative projects that produce better outcomes for patients, reduce costs and are being expanded across the UC Health system,” said CHQI Executive Director Karyn DiGiorgio. “This report helps quantify our impact.”

See Alec Rosenberg’s complete story, which includes more examples of the successes achieved by the CHQI grants.

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