Nosocomial Infections

Infections acquired during hospital care, or nosocomial infections, are one of the most serious patient safety concerns.

Figure 2.27. Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections in Medicare patients, by race, 2002-2003

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Source: Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System, 2002-2003.

Reference population: Random sample of Medicare medical records.

• No significant differences in the proportion of discharged Medicare patients who had a hospital-acquired bloodstream infection were observed, although this could be due to small sample sizes (Figure 2.27).
• From 2002 to 2003, the overall rate of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections fell from 0.40% to 0.15%. Significant improvements were observed among Whites.

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