Welcome to Modern Healthcare's informational site on hospital-acquired infections and healthcare infection control efforts. The site will be updated regularly with news and feature stories on infections and infection control. Primary sources will be Modern Healthcare staff reporting as well as stories from other news organizations and reports from government sites and public health agencies.
By Rebecca Vesely |
February 02, 2010
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Basic Web Registration Consumer Reports and the Leapfrog Group have released quality data on central-line infections for intensive-care units at 926 hospitals in 43 states. FULL STORY »
By Andis Robeznieks |
January 18, 2010
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Basic Web Registration Outgoing New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine spent his last day in office signing 53 bills into law, including one which requires ambulatory surgery centers to file quarterly infection reports to the state Health and Senior Services Department. FULL STORY »
By Rebecca Vesely |
December 14, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, or MRSA, is on the rise, and a new report on California hospitals indicates the largest jumps over the past decade are among children and infections acquired outside of healthcare settings. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
December 07, 2009
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Basic Web Registration In the winter of 1999, one ticking time bomb appeared to be the “Y2K bug,” when it was feared that computer glitches on Jan. 1, 2000, could cause any number of annoyances and even calamities. While that fizzled, another bomb—the Institute of Medicine report To Err is Human—soon exploded in the healthcare industry. FULL STORY »
By Matthew DoBias |
December 01, 2009
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Basic Web Registration A key Republican being courted as a possible swing vote on healthcare reform by Senate leaders and the White House said she would press for stricter penalties against hospitals that have high rates of hospital-acquired infections. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
October 30, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise and without new antibiotics, infections will continue to be prevalent, according to researchers presenting at the Infectious Diseases Society of America annual meeting. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian / HITS staff writer |
August 24, 2009
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Basic Web Registration The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launched a new Web page on its site focused on healthcare-associated infections.AHRQ has collected various research, tools and links to other resources about infections for the page, which falls under a patient-safety section of the federal agency's site. Infections acquired during medical treatment are a “common complication” in healthcare with a $28 billion to $33 billion cost to the system, AHRQ said on the new Web page. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
August 12, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Hospital admissions for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections are growing along with instances of community-associated MRSA, according to the results of a new study. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
July 20, 2009
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Basic Web Registration The newly added readmission data to the CMS’ Hospital Compare Web site might help hospitals tracking that information, but the consumers targeted by the site still might not find much use for the data, some say. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
June 09, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Education regarding hospital-acquired infections is one of the areas most reduced because of budget cutbacks in hospitals, according to a survey of infection-control specialists by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. FULL STORY »
By Joe Carlson |
May 11, 2009
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Print Magazine Subscription Fresh from her Senate confirmation hearings, incoming HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius began her tenure in Washington with a rejoinder to community hospitals over their rising infection rates and a bit of funding to spur future improvements. FULL STORY »
By Jennifer Lubell |
May 06, 2009
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Basic Web Registration HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the availability of $50 million in stimulus resources to fight healthcare-associated infections and improve patient safety, issuing a specific challenge to hospitals to take action to reduce HAIs. FULL STORY »
By Joseph Conn / HITS staff writer |
May 01, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Will health information technology tackle epidemics?IT vendors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working on it. At the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society convention in Chicago, six health IT companies, working in collaboration with the CDC, demonstrated the potential for having public-health communications capabilities incorporated into their systems and into the proposed national health information network.GE Healthcare, one of the demonstrators, featured a pilot program to determine the efficacy of triggering two-way communication between an... FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
April 29, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Hospitals have made improvements in surgical infection-prevention measures but there still exists wide variation among facilities in providing the right care, according to a new Consumers Union report. FULL STORY »
By Jennifer Lubell |
April 20, 2009
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Basic Web Registration As the federal government seeks to make hospitals more accountable for high readmission rates, the industry has a clear message for policymakers: Don’t penalize hospitals for readmissions that are beyond their control. FULL STORY »
By Shawn Rhea |
April 10, 2009
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Basic Web Registration A cluster of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections has prompted Massachusetts Public Health Department officials to cite Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for serious deficiencies in infection-control practices, according to a news release. FULL STORY »
By Andis Robeznieks |
March 28, 2009
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Basic Web Registration A nationwide random data sample on anti-infection practices at ambulatory surgery centers and random on-site inspections of ASCs are needed to assess the magnitude of infection-control problems at such facilities, according to a Government Accountability office report. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
March 23, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Results of a pilot program to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitals indicate behavioral changes can help stop the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers announced. FULL STORY »
By Joe Carlson |
March 19, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Two patient-safety programs intended to encourage collaboration between hospitals in a noncompetitive environment with the goal of reducing the incidence of central-line infections are being launched nationally among 28 state hospital associations, foundations and patient-safety groups. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
March 19, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Hospitals are sharing patients more frequently than they are aware of, which increases the chance of spreading infections, according to a report released at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s annual meeting. FULL STORY »
February 23, 2009
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Basic Web Registration The $150 billion in planned healthcare spending contained in the giant stimulus package signed last week by President Barack Obama can’t come soon enough for some healthcare providers. FULL STORY »
By Jessica Zigmond |
February 23, 2009
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Basic Web Registration First, the bad news: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital-acquired infections cause about 1.7 million illnesses and 99,000 deaths each year, while 230,309 Americans have died from chronic disease so far in 2009, and it’s only February. The good news: Both hospital-acquired infections and chronic illness are largely avoidable, and Congress has appropriated $1 billion from the economic stimulus package to HHS for prevention and wellness programs, with $50 million of that amount apportioned to the states for developing strategies to reduce healthcare-associated... FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
February 21, 2009
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Basic Web Registration The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality selected 10 state hospital associations and three patient-safety organizations to participate in a three-year initiative aimed at reducing central-line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive-care units. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
February 18, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Overall rates of central-line bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus have been decreasing in intensive-care units across the country, according to a new study. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
February 16, 2009
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Basic Web Registration Industry leaders are calling for more definition and action in HHS’ national infection-control plan, with two influential groups in disagreement on how best to use the data that are collected through reduction efforts. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
January 12, 2009
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Print Magazine Subscription Providers got a glimpse last week of the latest federal quality standards they will be expected to follow to reduce infections and also to comply with Joint Commission accrediting standards.HHS released its infection-control action plan detailing how it expects healthcare professionals to target six hospital-acquired infections for reduction and possible elimination within five years. In addition, the Joint Commission revised some hospital accrediting standards and elements of performance to meet Medicare requirements as it prepares to reapply for deeming authority from the CMS. FULL STORY »
January 06, 2009
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Basic Web Registration HHS has released targeted goals to reduce certain hospital-acquired infections in five years through its new infection-control action plan. FULL STORY »
December 24, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded $12.8 million in research grants to 19 quality, efficiency and safety projects. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
December 22, 2008
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Print Magazine Subscription Despite published guidelines to help hospitals establish anti-microbial stewardship programs, some still have not created the formal programs that manage the use of antibiotics in admitted patients, according to a new survey. FULL STORY »
By Jessica Zigmond / HITS staff writer |
November 21, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should develop reliable cost and timeline estimates, as well as outcome-based performance measures, for implementing its BioSense program, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. Created by the CDC in 2003, BioSense is an electronic-surveillance system that uses health-related data to identify patterns of disease symptoms prior to specific diagnoses. Last year, the CDC began to redesign the program to improve collaboration with stakeholders and address... FULL STORY »
November 11, 2008
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Basic Web Registration Hospital patients either carry or are infected with Clostridium difficile at higher rates than previously thought, according to a new study by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. FULL STORY »
November 10, 2008
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Basic Web Registration Anti-bacterial drug use has appeared to increase between 2002 and 2006, and this leads to a subsequent increase in the risk that pathogens will become resistant to these drugs, according to a report in the Nov. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. FULL STORY »
October 29, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has launched a consulting subsidiary to help providers combat infections in their facilities. FULL STORY »
October 22, 2008
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Basic Web Registration Hospitals in several states say they’ve successfully reduced healthcare-associated infections through various initiatives, although concerns remain about available funds to keep these programs afloat.At a news briefing sponsored by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, hospital representatives from New York and Tennessee detailed the steps they’ve taken to reduce various hospital-acquired infections. FULL STORY »
October 20, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology are asking providers across the globe to recognize this week as International Infection Prevention Week. FULL STORY »
October 08, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Joint Commission is preparing to adopt methods from a new compendium of practical strategies for preventing the six most-important healthcare-associated infections in acute-care hospitals. FULL STORY »
October 02, 2008
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Basic Web Registration Hospitals may have an incentive to under-report their healthcare-associated infections and states lack the ability to find out if the number of infections hospitals report is accurate, according to a GAO study. FULL STORY »
October 01, 2008
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Basic Web Registration The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded a $3 million contract to the Health Research & Educational Trust to implement a three-year program it hopes will reduce central-line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive-care units across the country. FULL STORY »
By Jean DerGurahian |
September 29, 2008
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Basic Web Registration HHS’ announcement of a new infection-control action plan last week is a step in the right direction but by itself is not enough to motivate hospitals to reduce infection rates, industry executives said. FULL STORY »
