Nation's Top Healthcare Organizations Announce Strategies to Prevent Deadly Healthcare-Associated Infections : Strategies emphasize practical implementation in acute healthcare...(This can lead to serious illness and lon...),Health

Date:10/8/2008

This can lead to serious illness and longer hospitalization. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)VAP occurs in pediatric and adult patients who require a machine to help them breathe. An estimated 25 percent of patients on a ventilator will develop VAP. Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI)Urinary catheters are used for patients unable to urinate on their own. Urinary tract infection is the most common HAI with about 80 percent of urinary tract infections acquired in the hospital attributable to long-term use of urinary catheters. Surgical site infection (SSI)SSI occurs in 2 to 5 percent of patients undergoing inpatient surgery in the United States with an estimated 500,000 occurring annually. Overall, SSIs are associated with about $7 billion to $10 billion annually in healthcare expenditures in the U.S. "Clinical and administrative leaders need to make infection prevention a key patient safety initiative within their organization. Patient safety is everyone's job," said APIC's 2008 President Janet E. Frain.

With patient concerns for HAIs growing, the partners decided the time was right to review and synthesize current guidelines and develop practical strategies that are easily implemented by healthcare professionals. The urgency is heightened because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will no longer reimburse hospitals for costs related to treating certain HAIs.

"Relevant, evidence-based guidelines must serve as the basis for infection prevention implementation strategies," said Robert A. Wise, M.D., vice president, Standards and Survey Methods, The Joint Commission. "The Compendium meets a great need for clear, user-friendly language, and was an important component in the development of The Joint Commission's 2009 National Patient Safety Goals on HAIs."

"Hospitals welcome these strategies as clearly identifiable things that can be done to improve and measure thei
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