Key Challenges in the Fight Against HAIs

In her April 18th post, columnist Kristen Gerencher hits on the key challenges in the fight against Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs). As she writes in her opening:

"It’s the invisible threat that lurks whenever you stay in a hospital: hospital-acquired infections, the potentially dangerous bugs that can be spread around the facility when doctors, nurses and staff fail to wash their hands, sterilize medical equipment or take appropriate precautions with high-risk patients. The infections are especially sneaky because most symptoms show up after you leave the hospital, typically within 30 days of being discharged."

The piece hits on these key issues:

• More accountability needed. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) weighed in this week on the state of hospital infections in a report that urged the Department of Health and Human Services to play a bigger role in overseeing recommended practices for countering infections. The GAO has called for linking the four databases used to collect information on hospital infections to get a more consistent and national picture of the problem.
• Fatalities and injuries continue to startle. Almost 100,000 people die from hospital infections every year, making the bugs the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. About 2 million Americans get hospital-acquired infections every year, with some patients making a full recovery and others battling invasive infections for years. (more statistics provided here)
• Costs are out of control, and likely underreported. Nationwide, a standard estimate is that hospital infections cost $5 billion to $6 billion a year--but that number is likely to be much higher because that figure is 10 years old.
• Everyone needs to be on-board with safety initiatives. Next year New York will begin mandating the state’s hospitals to disclose the ratio of infection-control professionals per bed. But, according to Lisa McGiffert, Austin, Texas-based manager of Consumers Union’s Stop Hospital Infections, "A good number to aim for is 1 per 100. In order to control infections, you have to have a well-organized program that involves everyone in the hospital.”

Currently, 22 states require hospitals to report their infection rates. Several bills in Congress are  working to create a set of national reporting standards and requirements and impose a mandated ratio of infection-control professionals per number of hospital beds.

According to Gerencher's piece, "Some states have been leading the push as well. Pennsylvania now requires hospitals to report the incidence of all four major types of infections and screen for an antibiotic-resistant bug known as MRSA."

The recent no-pay policies by Medicare/Medicaid for preventable medical errors, along with Insurers no longer covering them should serve as strong motivation to today's hospitals but clearly, we have a long road ahead of us.

Full post located here.