While hospital ICUs have made significant strides in reducing central line associated blood stream infections, hemodialysis settings remain a dangerous area for patient care. Some 37,000 bloodstream infections occur each year among dialysis patients with central lines, posing a risk…
Baltimore: Despite increasing infection prevention efforts, Clostridium difficile remains a persistent threat to patient safety in the nation’s hospitals, according to a survey released today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). The APIC survey found that 70% of infection…
Relatively uncommon in the United States before 2000, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) continue a dramatic increase in health care settings, moving across the health care continuum and causing infections that are difficult to treat and have high mortality, the Centers for…
Hospitals in the U.S. continue to make progress in the fight against central line-associated bloodstream infections and some surgical site infections, but struggled to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) between 2010 and 2011, according to a new report issued by the…
Dramatic progress in reducing several major health care associated infections (HAIs) in recent years has been offset by the unrelenting rise of Clostridium difficile, the spore-forming pathogen that can cling steadfast to hands even after washing. While, there hopeful signs…
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…
As predicted during the ramp up and passage of the controversial Affordable Care Act, infection prevention appears to be one of the clear winners under health care reform. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all states that…
Two of the nation’s leading infection prevention groups expressed support for the increasing alignment of reimbursement with clinical quality improvement, though warning that the electronic reporting required in this process is going to be something of a work in progress….
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) have partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the first annual Partnership in Prevention Award. Nominations will…
San Antonio, TX: Given current population demographics, infection prevention following joint replacement surgery is emerging as a new priority to reduce health care costs and patient suffering. In particular, preventing infectious complications following increasingly common knee and hip replacements could…