The 100,000 lives campaign: crystallizing standards of care for hospitals

Abstract

The 100,000 Lives Campaign has the attention of U.S. hospitals, professional groups, and the media. Its aim has been endorsed, and its planks are being implemented, by more than 2,300 diverse hospitals in every state. We posit that the six planks of the campaign have become national standards of care and propose four theories of liability for hospitals that ignore the campaign or fail to implement its planks. As a result of the campaign, hospitals and their boards now face a legal incentive to reduce needless deaths through six specific interventions.