Health Care-Associated Infections

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 healthcare-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.

Fact sheets on AHRQ-funded projects are available for:

• Fiscal year 2011.
• Fiscal year 2010.
• Fiscal year 2009.
• Fiscal year 2008 and earlier.

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. 

Tools & Resources

• Tools & Resources for Healthcare Providers and Others.
• Tools & Resources for Consumers.

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 Reports:
  • Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks (ACTION) Reports Related to Surgical Site Infections:
    • Improving the Measurement of Surgical Site Infection Risk Stratification/Outcome Detection—Denver Health
    • Proactive Risk Assessment of Surgical Site Infections in Ambulatory Surgical Centers
  • On the CUSP: Stop BSI Project:
    • Eliminating CLABSI, A National Patient Safety Imperative—Final Report on the National On the CUSP: Stop BSI Project
    • Companion Guide to the National On the CUSP: Stop BSI Project Final Report
    • Eliminating CLABSI, A National Patient Safety Imperative—A Progress Report on the National On the CUSP: Stop BSI Project, Neonatal CLABSI Prevention
  • Practice-Based Research Network Reports on Community Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus:
    • Cellulitis and Abscess Management in the Era of Resistance to Antibiotics (CAMERA)—Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill & Duke Clinical Research Institute
    • Community-Acquired Skin Infections in the Age of Methicillin-Resistant Organisms—Iowa Research Network Practices, University of Iowa
    • Management by Primary Care Clinicians of Patients Suspected of Having Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections—State Network of Colorado Ambulatory Practices and Partners
• 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):
  • CDC National Healthcare Safety Network
    Features a secure, Internet-based surveillance system that integrates and expands patient and health care personnel safety surveillance systems.
  • Antibiotic Prescribing and Use in Hospitals and Long-Term care
    Features strategies to help hospitals and other inpatient facilities implement interventions to improve antibiotic use.
  • Be Antibiotics Aware
    Features information on appropriate antibiotic use.
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):
  • Hospital-Acquired Conditions Present on Admission Indicator
    Features CMS' list of conditions that hospitals will not receive additional payment for if one of the conditions was not present on admission.
  • Hospital-Acquired Conditions Fact Sheet (PDF File, 760 KB)
    Offers a fact sheet on conditions that hospitals will not receive additional payment for if one of the conditions was not present on admission.
• 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:
  • Central Line Insertion Care Team Checklist
    Offers a checklist that provides critical steps that have been shown to reduce central line infections..
• MHA Keystone Center
  Features news and collaborative activities surrounding the Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Center, including HAI prevention..
• 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
  Links to a PDF brochure on how to prevent HAIs.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Partnering to Heal: Teaming Up Against Healthcare-Associated Infections
  Computer-based, interactive learning tool for clinicians, health professional students, and patient advocates.
• 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.
• 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):
  • CDC: Healthcare-Associated Infections
    Provides links to CDC resources, including estimates of HAIs, lists of infectious diseases in health care settings, and information on antimicrobial resistance.
  • CDC: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 
    Offers CDC information on MRSA symptoms and includes fact sheets on MRSA in schools and athletes.
  • Be Antibiotics Aware
    Features information on appropriate antibiotic use.
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Consumer Health Information
  Provides information on topics of interest to consumers, including infections, medicines, and recalls.
• 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 Medline Plus: Bacterial Infections
  Links to information on bacteria, including preventing and treating infections.
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance
  Offers information on antimicrobial drug resistance, including its causes, diagnosis, and treatment.

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