A few months back in this space we reported an unusually frank assessment from a CDC epidemiologist, who warned that due to “perverse incentives” in the U.S. health care system hospitals do not always lose money on nosocomial infections. Forget breaking…
An intervention model called the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) is dramatically reducing central line infections and can be used to prevent other threats to patient safety, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports. In data released at…
Buried in a relatively mundane update of the nationwide success in preventing central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), there is an implicit bombshell of a question for infection preventionists: Does the CUSP (Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program) strategy widely advocated by the Agency…
Infection preventionists, take a (brief) bow: Key HAIs falling, major challenges remain The needle is beginning to move. Four key healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are declining nationally as the result of unprecedented interest and action that includes everything from sweeping…
(Baltimore) There has been so much hoopla about driving central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) down to zero with checklists and bundles, that a unit that fails to achieve such success may take it somewhat personal. After a period of struggle,…
The more some infection rates are driven down to absolute zero, the more disturbingly quaint appear all those old conversations about the inevitably of HAIs. The only thing inevitable about central line-associated bloodstream infections [CLABSIs] is that they are being…
Too often a thankless job practiced in relative secrecy — with only bad outcomes likely to come to public light – hospital infection prevention is finally being duly recognized. The latest evidence comes in the form of awards by the…
Preventing health care associated infections (HAIs) has emerged as a top priority in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care (National Quality Strategy). The March 21, 2011 report to Congress was…
A recently reported dramatic national reduction in central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) puts a harsh spotlight on hospitals that have not adopted a “checklist” protocol and other proven measures to fight infections that are both expensive and…
UPDATE: In what would be a major blow for infection prevention in health care reform, GOP moves to oust CMS chief Don Berwick http://bit.ly/hwNlaa Surmising a recent national report of dramatic decreases in central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs),…