Rapid expansion brings communication handoff program to 31 hospitals across Kentucky

BOSTON, Mass. – March 6, 2025 – The I-PASS Kentucky Hospital Association Transitions and Communication in Hospitals (KHATCH) Program, an industry-leading partnership between I-PASS and the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) devoted to standardizing clinical handoffs at the statewide level, has expanded to include five additional health systems. This expansion brings the adoption of the program to 31 hospitals, outpacing initial adoption projections more than threefold. The program, fully funded by KHA, provides equal access for all KHA members to the evidence-based, validated I-PASS bundle. This initiative helps KHA members implement and sustain a systems-based communication solution that effectively redesigns care to enhance quality and patient safety in a scalable, highly reliable manner.

This eight-year initiative, backed by KHA, provides up to 60% of its member organizations—approximately 77 hospitals—equal, fully-funded access to I-PASS on a first-come, first-served basis. In just over one year since its inception, the adoption of the KHATCH Program has already achieved 40% of its long-term goal – highlighting the strong appetite and commitment to meaningfully scale evidence-based solutions at a state-wide level by the KHA and its members.

The latest hospitals joining the KHATCH Program include:

• Carroll County Memorial Hospital
• Russell County Hospital
• Pineville Community Health Center Hospital
• UK King’s Daughters Medical Center
• T.J. Regional Health, which includes T.J. Samson Community Hospital and T.J. Health Columbia

“The continued expansion of the KHATCH Program reflects members’ appreciation of and need for actionable solutions that address fundamental issues – like communication and teamwork – for all of our member organizations of various sizes,” said Deborah Campbell, Vice President of Clinical Strategy and Transformation at the Kentucky Hospital Association. “With I-PASS, we’re not just improving handoffs; we’re creating a culture of safety and reliability across Kentucky. The overwhelming response to this program has stressed the real need for this kind of structured approach, and we’re proud to support our member hospitals in making meaningful improvements to quality, safety, patient and caregiver experience with a tangible solution that’s intuitive for front-line care providers and integrates with existing workflows.”

The KHATCH Program is specifically designed to be accessible for KHA members of all sizes – including complex, multi-hospital systems, independent regional medical centers and critical access hospitals. The program’s scalable solutions can be tailored to meet the unique challenges of community-based and critical access hospitals, ensuring that organizations of all sizes across the commonwealth of Kentucky can implement structured handoff processes with the same level of effectiveness.

“The rapid adoption of the I-PASS rollout across Kentucky further validates the vision and leadership from the KHA to provide their members with tangible support to improve key fundamental elements of highly reliable, coordinated care like communication and teamwork,” said Marshall Burkhart, CEO of the I-PASS Patient Safety Institute. “Hospitals and health systems across Kentucky are embracing this evidence-based, validated program because it resonates with individual caregivers, aligns with their existing workflows, and supports better clinical management for care teams collectively. With demand and adoption far exceeding expectations to date, engagements are booking into the next calendar year. We urge KHA members to act now and take advantage of this fully funded opportunity to reduce patient harm.”

To learn more about enrolling in the KHATCH Program or implementing I-PASS across your organization, please contact Deb Campbell, dcampbell@kyha.com.

###

About I-PASS

The I-PASS Patient Safety Institute enables structured communications during clinical care transitions, and as a result, improves both patient safety and clinical outcomes. Founded by clinicians in 2016, the I-PASS Institute leverages expert mentorship paired with technology and digital tools to scale the I-PASS methodology. I-PASS is currently implemented in more than 100 healthcare institutions across the continuum of care. Learn more at www.ipassinstitute.com.

About Kentucky Hospital Association

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA), established in 1929, represents hospitals, related health care organizations, and integrated health care systems dedicated to sustaining and improving the health status of the citizens of Kentucky. Learn more at www.kyha.com.