This page features helpful links to information, tools, and resources on health care-associated infections (HAIs), which are the most common complication of hospital care and are one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. AHRQ-funded research and initiatives to reduce HAIs are also highlighted.
Introduction
A core part of the mission of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is to improve the safety of health care for all Americans. To support this mission, AHRQ has funded numerous projects to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs), infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions within a health care setting.
HAIs are the most common complication of hospital care and are one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002. The financial burden attributable to these infections is estimated at $28 to $33 billion in excess health care costs each year.
Background information on HAIs and AHRQ's work to reduce them is available at the AHRQ Fact Sheet Research Initiatives on Health Care-Associated Infections.
Details on the projects funded in fiscal year 2009 are available at the AHRQ
Fact Sheet AHRQ's 2009 Funded Projects to Prevent
Health Care-Associated Infections.
Information on the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program -- which is being
expanded to include all 50 States, to include other settings in addition to
intensive care units, and to address other types of health care-associated
infections -- is available at the AHRQ Fact Sheet Ending
Health Care-Associated Infections.
This page features helpful links to HAI-related information, tools, and resources, and will direct you to AHRQ-funded research and initiatives to reduce HAIs.
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Tools & Resources
Tools & Resources for Health Care Providers and Others
- AHRQ Morbidity & Mortality Rounds (AHRQ WebM&M)
Provides a searchable online journal and forum on patient safety and health care quality, including the topic of HAIs. Physicians and nurses can receive free continuing medical education (CME), continuing education units (CEU), or trainee certification by taking the Spotlight Quiz.
- AHRQ Healthcare411 Newcasts:
Features audio and video programs on AHRQ's latest research findings:
- American Hospital Association (AHA): Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence
Features an overview of Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence, a platform to disseminate field-tested practices, strategies, tools, and resources that can improve hospital care, including preventing HAIs.
- American Health Quality Association (AHQA)
Offers perspectives from Quality Improvement Organizations and professionals that work to improve the quality of health care by sharing information about best practices with physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and others on topics including HAIs.
- Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Features news, guidelines, and education opportunities to improve health and
patient safety by reducing risks of infection and other adverse outcomes.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):
- Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET): National Implementation of the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) to Reduce Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI) in the Intensive Care Unit
Offers toolkits to eliminate central line associated blood stream infections using a comprehensive unit-based safety program.
- Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
Provides resources on reducing antimicrobial resistance and the need for new antibiotics.
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
Features improvement methods, measurement plans, and tools to reduce HAIs.
- Johns Hopkins University:
- Michigan Keystone ICU Project
Features news and collaborative activities surrounding Michigan Keystone ICU Project, a joint partnership between the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the Johns Hopkins University that has reduce the number of infections in Michigan intensive care units (ICUs) to zero in more than half of participating hospitals.
- National Quality Forum's Safe Practices for Better Healthcare
Features a document listing 34 safe practices that should be universally used in applicable clinical care settings to reduce the risk of harm to patients.
- Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
Offers recommendations and guidelines on drug-resistant organisms, including MRSA
- The Joint Commission: Five Things You Can Do To Prevent Infection: A Speak Up Initiative (PDF File, 106 KB; PDF Help)
Links to a brochure on how to prevent HAIs.
- World Health Organization (WHO): Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Campaign
Features an overview of the campaign and offers tools and resources to prevent infections.
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Tools & Resources for Consumers
- AHRQ Patient Safety Network (AHRQ PSNet)
Features a National Web-based resource that posts news and resources on patient safety, including HAIs.
- Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC):
- PreventInfection.org
Information to improve health and
patient safety by reducing risks of infection.
- HAI Compendium
Strategies to prevent six of the most common HAIs: Clostridium difficile, Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), central-line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and surgical site infections.
- Consumers Advancing Patient Safety
Offers resources on patient safety, including infection control, from a consumer-led nonprofit organization.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Consumer Health Information
Provides information on topics of interest to consumers, including infections, medicines, and recalls.
- Healthfinder
Offers links to frequently asked questions on MRSA and staphylococcus skin infections.
- HHS' Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS): HHS National Action Plan on HAIs
Features a plan that establishes national goals for HAI prevention and outlines key actions for achieving identified short- and long-term objectives.
- National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Links to information on bacteria, including preventing and treating infections.
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Offers information on antimicrobial drug resistance, including its causes, diagnosis, and treatment.
- National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF): Preventing Infections in the Hospital: What You As a Patient Can Do
Features a patient education brochure on how to prevent HAIs while hospitalized.
- Simple Steps Can Reduce Health Care-Associated Infections
Advice for consumers and patients from AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn Clancy.
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Press Releases
Sebelius Announces Release of Recovery Act Funding to Improve Care in Nation's Ambulatory Surgical Centers
November 10, 2009
HHS Awards $17 Million in a New National Initiative to Fight Health Care-Associated
Infections
October 23, 2009
Secretary Sebelius Releases
Inaugural Health Care "Success Story" Report
July 13, 2009
Secretary Sebelius Highlights Two New Reports on Health Care Quality, Says Improving Quality is Key Component of Health Reform
May 6, 2009
10-State Project To Study Methods To Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in Hospital ICUs
February 19, 2009
AHRQ Awards $3 Million To Help Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in Hospital ICUs
October 1, 2008
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Congressional Hearings/Testimonies
Testimony on Reducing Health Care-Associated Infections
April 1, 2009
Testimony on Patient Safety Activities at the Department of Health and Human Services
June 9, 2005
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Current as of November 2009
Internet Citation:
Health Care-Associated Infections. November 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/hais.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 