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DUBLIN, Ohio, Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced that, for the sixth consecutive year, it will award grant funding to help U.S., Canadian, and Puerto Rican hospitals, health systems, community health clinics and other non-profit healthcare institutions improve the efficiency and quality of patient care.

Cardinal Health Foundation E3 Grant Program applicants are encouraged to submit funding requests for projects that will improve medication safety, particularly as patients move from hospital environments to home and other health care settings; or for projects that will improve operating room (OR) safety through the use of World Health Organization surgical safety checklist. This checklist has been proven to reduce surgical morbidity and mortality by providing a list of patient safety activities that must be completed by a surgery team before proceeding with a medical procedure.

In addition to receiving funding, grantees working on surgical errors will have access to coaching support from members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). Grantees working on medication safety projects will have access to coaching and support from hospital pharmacy experts from the Cardinal Health Pharmacy Solutions team, who each year help hundreds of hospitals across the country implement best practices related to medication safety and other hospital pharmacy initiatives.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to refer to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Web-based Improvement Map for best practice ideas for improving medication safety. Those interested in applying for grants to improve OR safety should refer to the AORN website for best practice ideas. Prospective grantees may also find summaries from successful E3 Grant Program proposals on the Cardinal Health community website.

"We are encouraged at the strides in medication and OR safety that previous E3 grantees have made," says Shelley Bird, chair of the Cardinal Health Foundation. "Past grant recipients have reported a 11:1 return on our investment, and hospitals report this funding helped them to reduce errors, length-of-stay, and readmissions. We are pleased to once again provide this funding."

Applications for E3 grants must be submitted on the Cardinal Health community website by Friday, Dec. 7.

The Cardinal Health Foundation will also host two webinars to review program criteria and provide prospective grantees the opportunity to ask questions about the E3 Grant Program application process. The webinars will take place on Oct. 23 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern and Oct. 26th at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. The webinar meeting information will be posted on cardinalhealth.com/community in the E3 section by Oct. 19.

Since the inception of the E3 Grant Program in 2008, the Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded 190 grants totaling more than $5.25 million to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of healthcare nationwide.

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $108 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while  reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #21 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.

SOURCE Cardinal Health Foundation