The Safe Patient Project is a Consumers Union campaign focused on eliminating medical harm, improving FDA oversight of prescription drugs and promoting disclosure laws that give information to consumers about health care safety and quality.
On Halloween night 2004, Ann Marie Robinson of California spent the night in the local hospital. “I came out the next day with Clostridium Difficile, something worse than what sent me there in the first place,” she says. Frustrated with the hospital’s response to her problems, she wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper last year seeking other people in the same situation. Within 3 days, 46 people had called, and so she created “Infection Connection”…
Archive for Hospital Acquired Infections
Click here for State Disclosure Reports
Consumers Union Documents
- Consumer Reports Hospital Survival Guide
Here’s our advice on how to prevent infections, drug mix-ups, unnecessary tests, and other common hospital errors
- Consumer Reports: When you’re out of the hospital, are you out of the woods?
Consumer Reports: About twenty percent of heart attack and pneumonia patients, and a quarter of heart failure patients, find themselves back in the hospital within 30 days, according to our updated hospital Ratings. And our new analysis shows that those rates aren’t getting better. Tips for making your hospital discharge as smooth as possible.
- Consumer Reports: Meningitis cases from tainted steroids continue to rise
The outbreak of fungal meningitis due to a contaminated steroid has affected 490 people and caused 34 deaths, according to updated figures released earlier this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Update: As of Nov., 27, the CDC reports the number of people affected has increased to 510 and caused 36 deaths.)
- Video: Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center
Here’s a look at some of the important work the Health Ratings Center has done since its creation in 2008.
- Consumer Reports Health: A look at the Health Ratings Center
New video highlights some of Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center’s important accomplishments: assessing hospitals for safety, surgeons for their heart bypass records, and drugs for their effectiveness.
- Consumer Reports: Should you avoid all steroid injections for your back pain?
The news about fungal meningitis from steroid injections has many back pain sufferers wondering if they should now avoid the shots entirely. Our medical experts say no: The deaths and health problems currently being reported are associated with three batches of the drug made by a single pharmacy.
- Hospital infections still high among Medicare patients
A recent NEJM report says Medicare’s policy of not paying for the treatment of two types of hospital infections has not shown to decrease infection rates. But there may be more to the story.
- Consumer Reports: Hospital infections still high among Medicare patients
Consumer Reports comments on a new study by the New England Journal of Medicine regarding Medicare’s nonpayment policy for hospital infections.
- Consumer Reports: Death toll from contaminated steroid shots rises
The CDC reported Tuesday that eleven deaths and 119 cases of fungal meningitis have now been identified as related to contaminated epidural steroid shots. The number is likely to rise.
- Consumer Reports: Some hospitals getting better at infection prevention
Consumer Reports on a recent report that showed a 40 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections over 4 years.
- Consumer Reports: U.S. News’ ‘Best Hospitals’ get mixed results in our safety Ratings
Consumer Reports explains why some hospitals get top marks with U.S. News but perform poorly in CR’s latest Ratings.
- Consumer Reports: 6 tips for staying safe in the hospital
6 tips for staying safe in the hospital from Consumer Reports.
- Consumer Reports: How to choose a hospital
Our updated hospital Ratings can help you choose a hospital in your area. And even if you don’t have a choice in hospitals, our Ratings can help you identify and be prepared for potential problems at the hospital you do go to.
- Consumer Reports: Which hospitals are in our safety Ratings (and which aren’t)
We have for the first time rated 1,159 U.S. hospitals for safety, providing a unique way to compare hospitals in your community. Still, our safety Ratings include just 18 percent of all the hospitals in the U.S. Why are so many excluded? Mostly because data on patient harm are still not reported fully or consistently nationwide.
- Consumer Reports: Have you been harmed in a hospital?
Our new report How Safe is Your Hospital? shares the stories of two patients who were harmed during hospital stays. Before you tell your story, follow these steps to protect yourself:
- Consumer Reports: Top 10 hospitals in our new safety Ratings
We rated 1,159 hospitals nationwide for safety and found successful ones throughout the country. The 10 hospitals at the top of our Ratings are in 10 states.
- Consumer Reports: Lowest-scoring hospitals in our new safety Ratings
Bad things happen in all hospitals, but they happen a lot in some. That’s one of the conclusions of our first ever Ratings of hospital safety.
- Consumer Reports: How safe is your hospital?
Our new Ratings find that some are riskier than others / Consumer Reports magazine: August 2012
- Consumer Reports: Hospital infections on the decline
Dangerous central-line bloodstream infections are down almost a third in U.S. hospitals, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite that process, hospital infections remain widespread among hospitals nationwide.
- CDC warns about ‘deadly diarrhea germ’
Some 14,000 Americans die every year from a bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. for short, and another 300,000 are hospitalized, according to a report released today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And unlike other hospital-acquired infections, those numbers are going up instead of down—largely due to the rise of antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria.
- New York-area hospitals do poorly in patient safety (report)
Consumer Reports rates hospitals in and around the Big Apple. Many hospitals in the New York City area do a poor job on four key measures of patient safety, according to a new Consumer Reports investigation.
- New York City hospitals do poorly in patient safety
Consumer Reports issues safety ratings for New York City-area hospitals. Of the 50 lowest-scoring hospitals nationwide in four key patient safety measures, 30 were in the New York City area, which includes the five boroughs as well as neighboring communities in Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey. And the five lowest-rated hospitals nationally were all in the NYC area, too.
- FDA explains links between C-difficile and stomach acid drugs
These drugs are also known as proton pump inhibitors
- Quick Steps for Searching Hospital Compare Infection Information
Central Line Bloodstream Infection Information Now Available for Hospitals Nationwide Instructions for Finding Out About Your Hospital: The Department of Health & Human Services is now disclosing for the first time information to compare central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units at hospitals across the country. Three months of CLABSI information for Continue Reading
- Dangerous infections are more likely in pediatric intensive-care units
Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center found that pediatric ICUs often have higher infection rates than adult ICUs, and that some do much better than others at preventing infections.
- CU Summary State Hospital Infection Disclosure Laws
Summary of state laws as of July, 2011
- Study: Hospital uniforms are laden with disease-causing bacteria
How clean is your doctor’s coat? It may be harboring potentially deadly bacteria like MRSA.
- CDC releases infection prevention guide for outpatient clinics
Research shows that infection risks can be just as serious in outpatient surgery centers as they are in hospitals.
- Your hospital survival guide: The basics
Here’s Consumer Reports Health’s advice for a safe hospital stay, from check-in to discharge. We assume you’ll be staying overnight, but much of our advice applies to outpatient visits, too.
- Are brand-name hospitals better?
New Consumer Reports Health hospital study on central line-associated bloodstream infections in their intensive-care units that stemmed from central-lines, which are large catheters used to deliver fluids, medication, and nutrition to patients. They are the most common hospital-acquired infections, and kill up to 25 percent of the people who develop them.
- Consumer Reports magazine: May 2011 Viewpoint
Patient safety activist, Kimberly Ratliff of Rocklin, CA, was featured in the Viewpoint of Consumer Reports magazine, about the death of her infant daughter Charlee who acquired several hospital infections.
- Video: Advice on staying safe in the hospital–from the experts
- Testimony of Elizabeth M. Imholz, Consumers Union Special Projects Director before CA Senate Health Committee
Stopping the occurrence of medical harm
- Testimony of Consumers Union on Public Reporting of Medical Harm in HI
Consumers Union supports a bill that will require acute care hospitals in Hawaii to report incidences of medical harm to the department of health, which will use the data to create a public report.
- Hospital infections: New studies find concerns for surgery patients and children
Two studies out recently suggest that one infection is on the rise in hospitalized children, and several are increasing among patients who have to wait in the hospital for elective surgery.
- 6 steps to fewer complications after a Cesarean
Even when C-sections are appropriate, pregnant women and their health-care providers should push for practices that reduce post-operative complications and improve the chance of a future vaginal delivery.
- Staying safe in the hospital (pdf)
Consumer Reports on Health provides a guide to a healthier hospital stay, walking you through a visit from check-in to discharge, describing how to prepare and providing tips on questions to ask along the way.
- Spreading Germs: Low Rates of Flu Vaccination Among California Healthcare Workers Put Patients at Risk (PDF)
Consumers Union Report shows California Department of Public Health is falling behind on collecting and publishing dangerously low vaccination rates to the public.
- Preventable Harm: California Fails to Follow Through With Patient Safety Laws
- CU Letter to CA Department of Health Care Services (pdf)
CU sent a letter to Kathleen Billingsley at the Department of Health Care Services following our meeting on December 16 regarding state implementation of the hospital-acquired infection and adverse event reporting laws. Consumers Union (December 28, 2009)
- CU Public Records Act Request to California Department of Public Health (pdf)
CU filed a Public Records request for documents related to adverse events and hospital acquired infections made available to the public through legislation passed since 2006. Consumers Union (February 16, 2010)
- The CDC wants your hospital to come clean on infections
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took the unusual step of publicly supporting CU’s efforts.
- Consumer Reports Health: Many Hospitals Fail To Lower Infection Rates Despite Lifesaving Checklist
New online ratings provide patients with easy access to hospital infection rates, a first for consumers
- Safe Patient Project Campaign Postcard (pdf)
Visual color postcard highlighting preventable deaths from hospital-acquired infections. Feel free to share, print and distribute!
- Consumers Union “To Err Is Human, To Delay Is Deadly” Webcast
On November 17, 2009, Consumers Union hosted a forum in Washington DC based on the 10-year anniversary of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 1999 study on medical harm challenging our health system’s progress on preventing medical harm 10 years later. We released a report earlier in the year on this
- Preventing hospital infections: It’s a matter of process
Consumer Reports interviews Safe Patient Project Campaign Director for her insights into some important new infection-prevention data Consumer Reports added to its Hospital Ratings.
- CU Summary of State MRSA Laws
Summary of state laws with hospital MRSA prevention requirements.
- 2009 State Legislation (PDF)
Summary of hospital infection laws for 2009.
- CU fact sheet on CA hospital infection laws
CU fact sheet on CA hospital infection laws
- State’s request for federal (ARRA) funding of plans to fight hospital acquired infections
Links to state grant submissions from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act stimulus money for hospital-acquired infection plans.
- Health and Human Services Grants for hospital infection prevention at surgical centers
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius designates ARRA money to stand-alone or same-day surgical centers to fight hospital infections in 12 states.
- Consumers Union Report: To Err is Human-To Delay is Deadly
Ten years ago the Institute of Medicine (IOM) declared that as many as 98,000 people die each year needlessly because of preventable medical harm, including health care-acquired infections. Ten years later, we don’t know if we’ve made any real progress, and efforts to reduce the harm caused by our medical care system are few and fragmented. With little transparency and no public reporting (except where hard fought state laws now require public reporting of hospital infections), scarce data does not paint a picture of real progress.
- Consumers Union Report: Cutting Surgical Infections
Look up your hospital’s record on preventing surgical infections.
- Congressional Legislation 111th concerning hospital infections
Congressional Legislation 111th concerning hospital infection reporting and antibiotic resistant (MRSA) infection detection and prevention
- Consumers Union Letter in Support of National MRSA Bill
Consumers Union supports H.R. 2937, “The MRSA Infection Prevention and Patient Protection Act.”
- Consumers Union MRSA Policy Brief
Consumers Union MRSA Policy Brief
- State Hospital Infection Public Reporting Laws
Summary of state laws hospital infection reporting laws.
- Policy Brief: Public disclosure will encourage hospitals to improve infection practices
If consumers can choose a hospital based on good information about the quality of care, including hospital infection rates, hospitals will quickly implement better practices.
- Report: Surgical infection prevention falls short
CU finds more hospitals following infection prevention measures, but too many patients remain at risk.
- To Err is Human – To Delay is Deadly
Ten years later, a million lives lost, billions of dollars wasted
- Consumer comments on USHHS action plan to prevent healthcare associated infections
Consumer groups call for bolder action.
- CU Policy Brief: C. difficile
The growth of infections caused by Clostridium difficile (C.diff) is a highly alarming trend in hospitals today.
- CU comments on CMS non-payment rules
Listening session on Medicare non-payment for hospital-acquired conditions 12-31-07.
- Legislation, 110th Congress
Hospital-acquired infection public reporting bills and antibiotic resistant protection and prevention bills under consideration in Congress.
- Dangerous bacterial infections are on the rise
What you can do to counter the trend and stay safe.
- Drug-resistant bug
A virulent, antibiotic-resistant bug that’s spread largely by poor hospital hygiene and can cause potentially deadly infections is much more common than previously believed.
- Hospital-acquired infection public reporting bills under consideration in 2007
This chart details hospital infection reporting bills being considered by state legislatures in 2007. Twenty one states have laws that require public reporting of infection rates.
- Drug-resistant staph infections
Infections pose risk to health for adults and kids
- Cost of hospital infections in New York
An analysis by Assemblyman Pete Grannis estimates the state and local Medicaid cost of hospital infections is $100-$200 million each year.
- Stay safe in the hospital
The January issue of Consumer Reports on Health newsletter tells patients and their relatives how to get the best care and prevent hospital infections and medication errors.
- National project shows that hospitals can reduce surgical site infections
The results of a year-long study among 56 hospital teams around the country recently revealed positive results. The Surgical Infection Prevention Collaborative aims to reduce deaths and injuries due to postoperative infections in the Medicare population, but the net effect is that everyone who goes to a hospital that institutes these practices will be safer. (pdf format only)
- Is hospital quality of care data available in your state?
Only Illinois and Pennsylvania have passed specific laws to make hospital-acquired infection rates public, but many states collect and report other hospital quality of care measures, like mortality from specific surgeries.
- What You Should Know About the Biggest Health Care Payer in the U.S.
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) is a little known entity with a lot of power: it oversees the operation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and sets standards for most hospitals in the U.S.
- Avoiding Hospital Blunders (Knowing the Risks and Speaking Up Can Help You Stay Safe)
Consumer Reports on Health gives tips on avoiding hospital blunders.
- How To Find A Good Hospital
Consumer Reports on Health gives tips on finding the right hospital for your special needs.
Consumers Union News Releases
- Patient Safety Activists To Rally Outside San Francisco Court House
California Hospital Association’s Suit Seeks to Undermine Effort to Make Surgical Infection Data Available to the Public.
- HHS Announces National Campaign to Improve Patient Safety
CONSUMERS UNION SAFE PATIENT PROJECT — NEWS RELEASE Please Note: Consumers Union can connect reporters with patients who have suffered from hospital infections and other medical harm. To find out more, contact Michael McCauley at mccami@consumer.org For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Contact: Michael McCauley (mccami@consumer.org), 415-902-9537 (cell), 415-431-6747,
- Consumer Reports Poll Finds High Levels of Concern About Medical Harm & Support For Public Ratings on Hospital Safety
A new poll released today by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found high levels of public concern about hospital-acquired infections and other forms of medical harm.
- CDC: 58% drop in central line infections in ICUs
Report Shows Infections Are Preventable But More Effort Is Needed To Protect Patients.
- California Issues Reports on Hospital-Acquired Infections
The reports provide a first glimpse at Hospital Infection Rates. Consumers Union press release recommending the state work harder to ensure the data is accurate and provided in a format consumers can easily view and understand.
- Report Finds Medical Errors More Common
Consumers Union Calls For Public Reporting of Medical Errors
- Report Finds That Only Half of California Hospital Workers Got Flu Vaccine
Report Finds That Only Half of California Hospital Workers Got Flu Vaccine
- New HHS Regulations Require Public Reporting of Certain Hospital Infections
Beginning next year, consumers across the country will be able to find out how their hospital stacks up when it comes to infections.
- Public Reporting of Hospital Infection Rates Will Save Lives & Dollars
Patient Safety Groups Support Efforts Under Health Care Reform to Disclose Infection Rates and Tie Payments to Performance
- Health Care Reform Law Poised to Make Health Care Safer
New Law Includes Important Patient Safety Provisions That Will Save Lives and Health Care Dollars
- Consumers Union Finds Slow Progress on Patient Safety in California
California Department of Public Health Has Failed to Carry Out Key Requirements of Recent Patient Safety Laws
- New York report details hospital infection rates
Infection program serves as model because NY invested resources to assist hospitals and validate data
- MRSA screening bill pushed in Congress
CU endorses bills in Congress to screen patients for MRSA and report infection rates to public
- CU Report: U.S. Health Care System Fails To Protect Patients From Deadly Medical Errors
Consumers Union Assesses Lack of Progress Ten Years After Institute of Medicine Found Up To 98,000 Die From Preventable Errors
- Reporting infections improves patient safety
New Pennsylvania study shows 8 percent drop in hospital acquired infections between 2006 and 2007.
- CDC publishes sobering stats on hospital infection
In a newly released study, the CDC estimates that there are 4.5 hospital infections for every 100 patient admissions and nearly 100,000 deaths from hospital infection. This long awaited assessment was published in the March-April 2007 journal, Public Health Reports and can be found on the CDC’s website.
- Colorado lawmakers OK bill requiring hospital infection reporting
Lawmakers’ push for infection rate disclosure pays off after two-year campaign
- Legislation shields medical error information but will not interfere with state mandatory reporting laws.
In 2004, Consumers Union worked with others around the country to ensure that legislation being considered by Congress would not prevent state laws that required public disclosure of hospital-specific infection rates. The bill has now been reintroduced and keeps the language that will permit states to require publication of hospital-specific infection rates.
- MISSOURI: General Assembly passes hospital infection reporting bill
SB1279 was passed on May 5 and is now waiting for Governor Bob Holden’s signature. The bill requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to collect and publicly report the infection rates of individual hospitals. Primary sponsors Sen. Sarah Steelman and Rep. Rob Schaaf, M.D., worked with a host of co-sponsors and stakeholders including family members of people affected by hospital-acquired infections, the Missouri Hospital Association, and Consumers Union.
- BOSTON, ORLANDO, DALLAS, SAN FRANCISCO and CHICAGO host meetings on hospital quality
If you are concerned about hospital quality, you have a chance to attend public meetings in Boston, Orlando, Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago in the months of April, May and June and let the federal government know what’s on your mind.
Blog Posts
- Patient safety advocate’s work recognized in US News & World Report
Patient safety advocate Mary Brennan-Taylor shares her mother’s story in U.S. News & World Report.
- Too many people harmed by C. diff infections – Hospitals need to clean up their act
Deadly C. diff infections, mainly contracted in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities, are skyrocketing in the US. So why is the medical community doing so little to stop it? Watch and share this heartbreaking story showing the damage this infection can inflict and read the shocking new USA Today report for more Continue Reading
- Dedicated patient safety advocate shares his story in Health Affairs article
This week I read a new article written by a dedicated patient safety advocate, Kerry O’Connell, published in Health Affairs, a prestigious healthcare journal.
- CDC warns the public about deadly C. diff infections, patient safety advocates react
14,000 Americans die every year from diarrhea-causing C. difficile (or C. diff for short) infections and 337,000 people are hospitalized, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unlike other healthcare-associated infections that have been on the decline over the past decade, C. diff infection rates and deaths climbed to Continue Reading
- California Releases New Report on Hospital Infection Rates
A report by the California Department of Public Health, makes California a national leader on public reporting of infections.
- Cancer patient asks hospitals for their infection rates
Seeking safe healthcare for her cancer treatment, patient safety advocate–Kathy Day of Maine–recalls the transparency hurdles she faced when she asked a hospital for its infection rates.
- Consumer voices to be heard at national hospital infection meeting
Meet the eleven consumer advocates who will be attending a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)hospital infection meeting this week.
- “Please, don’t infect me”
Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.
- “It’s not just statistics…it’s somebody’s Mom”
Hospital infections leave a lasting impact on the individuals and families who had to experience them. For Mary Brennan-Taylor, hospital infections took the life of her mother, Alice Brennan, who passed away in 2009 after entering the hospital for pain and swelling in her leg.
- Swine flu victim dies from hospital acquired infection
New York swine flu patient dies from a hospital-acquired infection in a local ICU where she had been successfully treated for swine flu.
- Consumers win on reporting surgical infection rates in CA
Last week, California hospitals lost their bid to avoid reporting their infection rates to the public. A California judge upheld a 2008 state law – one of the strongest in the nation – that calls on hospitals to report infections occurring from a broad array of surgeries.
- Tuesday 6/7: Join a live web chat with Safe Patient Project
Join the Chicago Tribune for a live web chat at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, June 7, to chat about hospital safety with Tribune reporter Judy Graham, and panelists Empowered Patient Coalition’s Dr. Julia Hallisy and Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director Lisa McGiffert.
- Video: Advice on staying safe in the hospital–from the experts
Hear advice from consumer advocates on patient safety.
- Beware of Scary Superbugs in Your Hospital
It only takes three things for a hospital superbug to infect a patient. Should you be concerned?
- If you’re in the San Diego area tomorrow, meet us at the Empowered Patient training
On Saturday, October 9, the Empowered Patient Coalition along with Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project and AARP California will be holding a special training in San Diego for patients and caregivers on how to stay safe in the hospital.
- A Shot In The Dark: Not Enough California Healthcare Workers are Getting Flu Shots
It’s the start of flu season and you might be worried about the spread of germs. We’re worried too. Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project released a report today that found nearly half of all hospital workers in California didn’t get flu shots during the 2008-2009 flu season.
- MRSA Study Indicates Good News But Far Too Many Patients Suffering
Last week’s good news of a decline in serious MRSA health care-acquired infections, is a victory for patient safety, but we still have a long way to go to eliminate this very preventable crisis.
- Victory for patients! Public reporting of certain infections will go nationwide
Soon it will be easier for you to find out how well your hospital prevents certain infections. As part of the new health care reform law, the Department of Health and Human Services will require hospitals to publicly disclose several types of dangerous hospital infections.
- Patient safety activists hold “conversation” with CDC
On June 16, Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project and 11 patient safety advocates from 10 states attended the first “Consumer Conversation on Healthcare-Associated Infections” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
- Numerators
Guest blog post from Kerry O’Connell of Conifer, Colorado. Kerry is a member of the Colorado Health Facility Acquired Infections Advisory Committee. A committed patient safety advocate, he calls for restoring empathy and compassion in health care.
- New CDC report on CLABSIs: One step forward, many more to go
This week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a state-specific report (not hospital specific) on rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in the ICU as collected by its National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), a monitoring system that looks at hospital infections across the nation.
- A Lifesaving Safety Program Your Hospital Should Follow
An innovative “checklist” to reduce central line bloodstream infections in intensive care units has had incredible success in hospitals where it’s been adopted.
- Septicemia Statistics and the Need for Death Certificate Reform
Guest blog by Lori Nerbonne of NH Patient Voices–Death certificates are the primary source of important vital statistics in our country – yet too many certificates fail to tell the whole story.
- California Moving Too Slow On Patient Safety Progress
Since 2006, California lawmakers have passed laws to improve patient safety, yet the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has been moving at turtle speed to enforce these laws.
- New Resource for Those Dissatisfied with a Health Care Experience
Guest blog post by Deb Wachenheim, Health Quality Manager at Health Care For All (HCFA) in Boston. HCFA has launched a new website that can help patients in Massachusetts and across the country speak up when something goes wrong in the hospital. There is information on asking for help when you are in the hospital, advice on how to file a complaint, and resources available to help you.
- Jon Stewart: What If We Classified Hospital Infections as Terrorists?
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande, M.D., discusses the surgical checklist on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
- U.S. Congressman dies following surgical error, infection
Our leaders in Congress experience medical harm, too. On Monday, Politico reported that Pennsylvania U.S. Congressman John Murtha had died as a result of complications from recent gallbladder removal surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
- CDC Endorses Public Reporting of Hospital Infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a very clear statement today on public reporting of infection rates, prompted by the Consumer Reports article “Deadly Infections” – a real step forward!
- Hospitals, get with the program
Hospital-acquired infections rarely make national headlines, but today, “Deadly infections” hits magazine racks across America in the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports, published by Consumers Union.
- Joint Commission: Time to Highlight Outcome Measures
The Joint Commission (a private membership and hospital accreditation body) has released its 2009 Annual Report on Quality and Safety providing a summary of rates for performance measures for a number of evidence-based treatments for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care between 2002 and 2008.
- Delaying Is Deadly–Join Our Patient Safety Webcast on November 17
On November 17, Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project is hosting a forum in Washington DC based on the 10-year anniversary of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) study on medical errors, “To Err Is Human.”
- Hospitals in the Blogosphere
If your hospital had a blog, would you read it? More importantly, would you expect to see information that every patient deserves – such as hospital infection rates or harmful medical errors happening there?
- Let’s talk about MRSA
Learn about MRSA from the people who have had personal experiences with this harmful superbug.
- MRSA at the Beach
What if a fun trip to the beach meant you’d be exposed to MRSA? As recently reported by USA TODAY, researchers have identified this antibiotic-resistant MRSA superbug on five beaches in Washington State.
- Watch Money-Driven Medicine
A new documentary, Money-Driven Medicine, offers a thoughtful perspective to the health care reform debate that couldn’t be timelier.
- Patient Safety Advocates speak out on Health Care Reform
Read and sign the Patient Safety Advocates’ Statement on Health Care Reform.
- Dead by Mistake
Check out this new collection of medical errors reporting: “Dead by Mistake”
- My Tweet to Secretary Sebelius
In 140 characters on Twitter, I asked a serious question about hospital-acquired infections.
- House health reform bill tackles hospital infections
Our message caught on! A coalition of House Democrats have included public reporting of hospital-acquired infections in their reform bill (HR 3200), and reducing payment to hospitals that aren’t doing enough to prevent infections.
- In Honor of Patients
Join patient safety advocates across the country tomorrow to observe Patient Safety Day.
- Medicare releases data on hospital readmissions
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last Thursday that it has added readmission rates for more than 4,000 hospitals across the U.S to its Hospital Compare website. With proper care, most people should not have to go back to the hospital shortly after release. This is a key indicator of quality and varies a lot between hospitals.
- Preventing hospital infections would save lives—and billions
Hospital groups have reportedly agreed to smaller payments for Medicare and Medicaid services, and less reimbursement for caring for the uninsured, if and when health reform is enacted. So far, however, health care reform proposals have not sufficiently addressed a key aspect that would save money and the lives of thousands of patients: Preventing hospital infections.
- Patient Safety Activists Represent Consumers at Presidential Health Care Forum
Four patient safety activists – all who have been personally affected by medical harm – were among the 164 participants in ABC’s televised health care forum held with President Obama. Understandably, they came armed with questions but didn’t get to ask them. So we wanted to give them a chance to get their questions in front of the public and lawmakers here on this blog.
- VA officials get probed for using non-sterile instruments on patients
U.S. lawmakers held a hearing a few weeks ago to figure out why VA officials still weren’t following proper procedures for cleaning endoscopes that put more than 11,000 veteran patients at risk.
- Insight from California Safe Patient Network
Guest blogger, Holly Harris from San Diego, shares what she learned at the California Safe Patient Network meeting and calls on us to join and spread the word about preventable medical harm.
- Not Another Ten Years
Our new report “To Err is Human – To Delay is Deadly” calls attention to the IOM’s unfulfilled call to action.
- Secretary Sebelius calls on hospitals to fight hospital-acquired infections
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, tells hospitals to take “basic steps to fight infections” that harm millions of patients every year and add billions to our nation’s health care costs.
- Breaking News: Handwashing Saves Lives
We have said many times that handwashing makes a difference in stopping hospital acquired infections. Like us, President Obama acknowledges the importance of hand hygiene to prevent illness.
- Activists speak out at Presidential health care forum
Your stories matter. We are listening—and we’re getting those at the highest levels of government to listen, too.
- Raise your hand if you’ve had a hospital-acquired infection
More people know about hospital acquired infections and medical errors than you might think, and not just from watching Oprah.
- Watch these personal stories — Quality Care Saves Lives!
I’d like to point you to four brave patients, who debuted their videos to lawmakers at the Massachusetts State House and encouraged them to take an active role to improve patient safety.
- Medical Mistakes show on Oprah
Did you catch the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday about medical mistakes? She featured actor Dennis Quaid who recalled the series of hospital errors that nearly killed his newborn twins after they were given one thousand times the amount of the blood-thinning drug Heparin—twice.
- Drop in some MRSA infections in ICUs
A new JAMA study confirms what we’ve been saying all along: public reporting of hospital infections leads to reduction of infections!
- Former skeptic believes in preventing hospital infections
A few years ago, Dr. Manoj Jain was skeptical of hospital infection reduction—thinking hospital infections were the norm for ICU patients
- Seattle PI: U.S. pigs and farmers carry MRSA but federal food safety agencies are doing little to see if the pork is safe
Seattle PI reports on a new study that found pigs and workers on several Midwestern farms are colonized with MRSA.
- Patients Right to Know
Colorado Citizens for Accountability has launched its new patient safety website: PatientsRightToKnow.org. It contains a U.S. map where you can find out what physician background reporting is available in your state.
- HHS releases plan to prevent health care-associated infections
This week the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released its “Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections” which sets five-year prevention targets for six major types of infection. Such as (from Table 1):
• A 30% reduction in C. difficile
• A 25% reduction in urinary catheter infections
• A 50% reduction in MRSA infections - 20 Things You Didn’t Know About…Hygiene
Here’s one thing you might not know: On average, doctors and nurses clean their hands between patients only 50% of the time.
- Fund the Texas hospital infection reporting law
In 2007, the Texas legislature had a brilliant idea. They passed a law that required the Texas Department of State Health Services to make public health care acquired infection rates for several surgical procedures and bloodstream infections in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and children’s hospitals by no later than June 1, 2008.
- MRSA series: Culture of Resistance
The Seattle Times’ new three-part series on MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant superbug that’s killing thousands of hospital patients every year made me want to wash my hands over and over like Lady Macbeth.
- “I don’t want to die (in the hospital)”
While he may not be singing about hospital infections specifically, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band humorously assemble the jolting anxiety we’d feel as a hospital patient trying to get out…
- Old Blood for Halloween
Patients given blood transfusions of blood stored 29 days or longer are twice as likely to get a hospital-acquired infection as those receiving newer blood, according to researchers at Cooper University Hospital in New Jersey.
- Mother against medical error
Helen Haskell, founder of Mothers Against Medical Error (MAME), became a patient safety advocate after her 15 year old son died from a medical error in 2000. Watch her story.
- NYT calls for doctors to be included in Medicare non-payment rules
The New York Times came out Sunday with a strong call for making the new Medicare rule to stop paying for care needed after hospitals harm their patients apply to physicians too, stating the current policy lets “doctors off scot-free.”
- SC activist Dianne Parker fights for safer care
Dianne Parker became a lead patient safety activist after her husband, Willie, died from a combination of medical errors and a hospital-acquired MRSA infection. Watch her story…
- Medicare won’t foot the bill for medical errors
Effective today, Medicare will stop compensating hospitals for the additional costs to treat patients who suffered from certain preventable infections and errors due to bad medical care.
- The better half: California hospital infection reporting bills signed into law!
California becomes 25th state to require public reporting of hospital infections and 4th state to require MRSA screening of certain patients.
- The “Duh” Factor — What’s So Hard About Saving Lives?
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that only eight state hospital associations even gather comprehensive information about the rate of central-line-associated bloodstream infections (among the most common types of hospital-acquired infections).
- MRSA takes its toll on father and son
Following a bike accident, Jimmy Jr. needed knee surgery hoping to be strong enough to play high school football. Instead he acquired MRSA…
- CA activist Carole Moss leads effort on hospital infection bills
Carole Moss has been a lead advocate on the effort to pass legislation requiring California hospitals to report their infection rates available to the public. The bill is named after her son, Nile, who died of MRSA, an antibiotic resistant superbug. The legislation also requires screening of patients for MRSA and isolating those that have it.
- Survivor turned movement leader: Meet Alicia
Alicia Cole, an actress and hospital infection survivor, last Friday launched her own initiative to finally pass an infection reporting law in California.
- Some Hospitals Provide Rxs for Error, Dissatisfaction
You may remember Dennis Quaid from The Parent Trap but nowadays he’s speaking out against medical errors…
- 3 minutes of your time could save your life
I needed an antidote. Too many drug ads—smiling people glowing with the pleasure of their successful medical treatments. But of course, they are actors.
- CU Activists descend on Washington and hit the ground running for drug safety
Consumers Union hosted its first-ever Activist Summit this week in which 50 activists from all over the country came to learn, meet each other and speak out for change in Washington.
- Medicare negotiation passes House!
The US House of Representatives yesterday voted 255-170 in favor of requiring the HHS secretary to negotiate drug prices with drug manufacturers for Medicare Part D plans…
News Articles
- AP reports on hospital superbugs and cleaning efforts - advocate Christian Lillis quoted Source: Associated Press (Monday April 29, 2013)
AP reports on hospital superbugs and cleaning efforts. Christian Lillis, member of CU’s Safe Patient Project, is quoted in the article. Christian started the Peggy Lillis Memorial Foundation after the death of his mother from C.diff.
- Listen: Dr. Arjun Srinivasan from the CDC and Dr. Kevin Kavanagh from HW USA discuss healthcare acquired infections Source: Health Watch USA (Thursday April 25, 2013)
link to Dr Arjun Srinivasan’s radio presentation April 23, 2013 on 590 AM WVLK
- Missouri Senate Committee Passes Bill to Toughen Reporting on Hospital Infections Source: St. Louis CBS (Wednesday April 17, 2013)
In part, the bill would require a quicker turn-around by Department of Health releasing infection data reported by hospitals.
- CRE: Mandatory reporting of 'superbug' sought Source: Courier Journal (Friday April 12, 2013)
A state legislator from Louisville and the leader of a national watchdog group (Dr. Kevin Kavanagh of Health Watch USA) are calling for a new rule that hospitals report all CRE “superbug” cases to the state — a measure they say would better control the potentially deadly bacteria.
- Kindred had 40 CRE cases Source: Courier Journal (Tuesday April 16, 2013)
The Kentucky Department for Public Health and Kindred Healthcare are investigating the presence of CRE superbugs in about 40 patients since July at Kindred Hospital Louisville, a transitional-care hospital where patients often stay for weeks.
- Medical Bed Mattresses: FDA Safety Communication - Damaged or Worn Covers Pose Risk of Contamination and Infection Source: FDA (Friday April 19, 2013)
From January 2011 to January 2013, the FDA received 458 reports associated with medical bed mattress covers failing to prevent blood and body fluids from leaking into the mattress (fluid ingress). Fluid ingress may occur if mattress covers become worn or damaged from small holes or rips in the fabric or from incorrect cleaning, disinfecting and laundering procedures. The zipper on the cover may also allow fluid to penetrate the mattress. Some reports indicate that if blood and body fluids from one patient penetrate a mattress, they can later leak out from the mattress when another patient is placed on the bed. Patients are at risk for infection if they come into contact with blood and body fluids from other patients.
- New York Times Well Blog: Safer Hospital Rooms Source: New York Times (Monday April 15, 2013)
Over a 21-month period at a Cleveland hospital, researchers sequentially imposed three cleaning techniques: fluorescent markers whose disappearance after cleaning provided feedback on thoroughness, an ultraviolet radiation device to enhance regular cleaning, and a daily disinfection team requiring assessment and clearance of disinfected rooms by supervisory staff. The entire study is available to the public at http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670217
- Drug pipeline for worst superbugs "on life support": report Source: Reuters (Thursday April 18, 2013)
Researchers found a total of seven drugs in development and being tested in people with drug-resistant, gram-negative infections. “Simply put, the antibiotic pipeline is on life support and novel solutions are required to resuscitate it – now,” IDSA President Dr. David Relman said in a statement.
- Oklahoma's Dental Law Lacking Enforcement Clout Source: News9 (Sunday April 7, 2013)
Following allegations that a Tulsa-area oral surgeon potentially exposed at least 7,000 patients to hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS – the head of the Oklahoma Dentistry Board says the agency has just three inspectors to watch over the state’s 2,200 dentists.
- Daughter shares mother's C.diff story: Teresa Mustain Source: Peggy Foundation (Wednesday March 13, 2013)
Daughter shares her mother’s tragic story about C.diff.
- C. Diff Dangerous in ESRD Source: MedPage Today (Thursday April 4, 2013)
Patients on kidney dialysis who are infected with Clostridium difficile appeared to have a greater risk of infection relapse and also appeared to have a higher all-cause mortality that patients who do not have kidney disease, researchers said here.
- When Harm in the Hospital Follows You Home Source: ProPublica (Thursday March 21, 2013)
ProPublica Q&A with a professor who specializes in the aftermath of medical harm to patients.
- Discussion: How to Improve Accountability in Medicine? Source: ProPublica (Monday April 1, 2013)
Consumers Union Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, participated in a live chat on how to increase accountability in medicine. You can read the chat transcript here.
- MRSA Exposure Prompts Courtroom Closing & Sanitizing Source: San Diego 6 (Tuesday April 2, 2013)
MRSA shuts down courtroom
- Anaheim General to close in May Source: OC Register (Tuesday March 26, 2013)
The decision comes after years of patient safety violations and financial struggles that were followed by an unexpected recovery for the hospital.
- Deadly bacteria hitting Louisville hospitals, long-term care facilities Source: Courier Journal (Saturday March 23, 2013)
Antibiotic-resistant CRE blamed in 1 death locally. Health Watch USA’s Kevin Kavanagh quoted.
- Why Are Hospital Ratings All Over the Map? Source: Kaiser Health News (Monday March 18, 2013)
Jordan Rau (Kaiser Health News) reports on hospital ratings, mentions Consumer Reports
- State does not require 'superbug' to be reported Source: WZZM (Thursday March 7, 2013)
WZZM discovered the state of Michigan does not have hospital reporting requirements for this potentially deadly CRE infection once it’s found in a hospital or long term care facility.
- Drug-resistant staph infections increasing at a slower pace Source: Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (Thursday February 28, 2013)
The growth of MRSA-related hospitalizations was stagnant between 2005 and 2009; Community-associated infections peak in the summer, likely due to seasonal antibiotic overuse.
- A Revenue Leak Soon Turns to Flood: How Payment Penalties for High Infection Rates Could Drain Hospital Finances Source: Becker's Hospital Review (Friday March 15, 2013)
Hospitals are losing money by not acting to reduce their hospital-acquired infections.
- GCN radio interview with Michael Bennett, patient safety advocate Source: GCN Live (Monday February 25, 2013)
GCN live interviews Michael Bennett, patient safety advocate in Maryland, about issues relating to MRSA and other hospital infections.
- Kerry O'Connell: Emotional Cohorting Source: Patient Safety Insight (Tuesday February 19, 2013)
Patient safety advocate Kerry O’Connell writes for National Patient Safety Foundation: “Some of the strongest human bonds on earth are between unrelated people who happen to share in a disaster. Consider what it would take in your facility to bring together patients who have experienced similar diseases or outcomes.”
- Advocacy group wants infection-data law left alone Source: The News Tribune (Sunday February 24, 2013)
News Tribune: “Six years after a landmark state law forced Washington hospitals to publicly report the rates at which their patients were catching serious infections while in care, Washington lawmakers are tinkering with the law. And that worries a major consumer advocacy group, Consumers Union.”
- Study By VA Doctors Sheds Light On MRSA Prevention Source: WRIC (Wednesday February 6, 2013)
New study published in New England Journal of Medicine found that baby wipes containing a chemical called Chlorhexidine reduced MRSA cases by 23 percent and blood infections by 28 percent while patients are in the hospital.
- Op-ed by Betsy McCaughey in WSJ: When Hospitals Become Killers Source: Wall Street Journal (Wednesday January 30, 2013)
Op-ed by Betsy McCaughey in Wall Street Journal on carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella (CRK) germs in hospitals that caused an outbreak at the National Institutes of Health Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. McCaughey argues for the CDC to make CRK a reportable disease like AIDS.
- CBS Video: "Superbugs" becoming harder to fight Source: CBS News (Sunday January 27, 2013)
“Superbugs becoming harder to fight. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can kill patients, especially those too weak to fight back. One expert believes that unless we combat these new organisms we are close to returning to pre-antibiotic era mortality rates. Serena Altschul reports.”
- Superbugs: A ticking time bomb Source: CBS News (Sunday January 27, 2013)
“Can anything stop the superbugs that are making people sick and seem to defy the tools of medical science? Researchers are working on the problem, but to no avail so far. That’s the subject of our Cover Story, reported by Serena Altschul.”
- The president should make medical errors a priority -- to save both lives and money Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Monday January 28, 2013)
Letter to the editor on reporting medical errors by Paul H. O’Neill, secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush and is a former CEO of Alcoa Inc.
- North Carolina releases first public report on hospital-acquired infections Source: Charlotte Observer (Saturday January 26, 2013)
North Carolina publishes its first-ever report on hospital-acquired infections. Although infection data are now available on the Medicare website, Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project, said it’s still important for states to publish their own.
- NYT Letter to the Editor by Christian Lillis: Intestinal Infection Source: New York Times (Sunday January 27, 2013)
The letter is in response to the paper’s recent article on fecal transplants, which stated that 14,000 people die from C. diff every year. According to HHS, deaths from C. diff are more than double that.
- How To Tell and Share Your Patient Story about Bad Medical Care Source: About.com Patient Empowerment (Friday January 25, 2013)
Trisha Torrey gives advice on how and where to share your medical harm story.
- When Pills Fail, This, er, Option Provides a Cure Source: New York Times (Wednesday January 16, 2013)
NYT on New England Journal of Medicine study on fecal transplants: such transplants cured 15 of 16 people who had recurring infections with Clostridium difficile bacteria, whereas antibiotics cured only 3 of 13 and 4 of 13 patients in two comparison groups. The treatment appears to work by restoring the gut’s normal balance of bacteria, which fight off C. difficile.
- Father's Death Spurs Son To Tackle Health Care Source: NPR (Friday January 11, 2013)
NPR story with David Goldhill, who wrote “How American Health Care Killed My Father—and How We Can Fix It.”
- Faecal bacteria cocktail treats superbug infection Source: New Scientist (Tuesday January 1, 2013)
Feeding faeces to people with chronic infection can cure them, but who wants to eat poo? A synthetic alternative could provide a more palatable option.
- Cuomo Plans New Rules in Fight Against Sepsis Source: New York Times (Monday January 7, 2013)
NYT reports: “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will announce in his State of the State Message this week that every hospital in New York must adopt aggressive procedures for identifying sepsis in patients, including the use of a countdown clock to begin treatment within an hour of spotting it, a state official said.”
- Cute science: Pandas can help fight superbugs Source: Salon (Tuesday January 8, 2013)
In the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, scientists have an unexpected new ally: The giant panda
- Hospital patient sues over infection Source: Durand Daily Journal (Monday December 24, 2012)
CA patient sues hospital for malpractice and negligence after contracting C.diff
- Why Patients Don’t Report Medical Errors Source: ProPublica (Tuesday September 25, 2012)
ProPublica’s Marshall Allen writes: “Many of the people who suffer harm while undergoing medical care do not file formal complaints with regulators. The reasons are numerous: They’re often traumatized, disabled, unaware they’ve been a victim of a medical error or don’t understand the bureaucracy.”
- Op-ed: The culture of health-care secrecy harms patients Source: Seattle Times (Wednesday December 26, 2012)
A former nurse writes about the inside knowledge she had about a doctors and other nurses concerning their performance history, including medical errors. But patients don’t have access to that same information.
- New MRSA superbug strain found in UK milk supply Source: The Independent (Wednesday December 26, 2012)
Research reveals that antibiotic-resistant organisms are gaining a hold on dairy industry
- Medicare Lists Hospital Quality Bonuses Source: Medpage Today (Saturday December 22, 2012)
“The revised payments, which will begin in January, mark the federal government’s most extensive effort yet to hold hospitals financially accountable for what happens to patients.”
- Scientists halt deadly MRSA outbreak by cracking genetic code and tracking down carrier in breakthrough that could save hundreds of lives each year Source: Daily Mail (Wednesday November 14, 2012)
Cambridge scientists used the technology to identify a member of staff unwittingly spreading the infection. By identifying the bacterial strains, experts were able to halt the infection.
- Cause Of The Global Epidemic Of Clostridium Difficle Identified Source: Medical News Today (Monday December 10, 2012)
Study: New research reveals that there were two different strains of bacterium that caused the global epidemic of Clostridium difficile between 2002 and 2006, not just one.
- Op-ed: Let’s Gang Up on Killer Bugs Source: New York Times (Sunday December 9, 2012)
Carl F. Nathan for New York Times writes: “I hope you never have this experience: a loved one is hospitalized. Her doctors tell you her infection is resistant to antibiotics. She dies. More than 60,000 American families go through that experience each year — and the number is almost certain to rise.”
- Bugs Without Borders: Researchers Track Emergence Global Spread of Clostridium difficile Source: Infection Control Today (Monday December 10, 2012)
ICT: Researchers show that the global epidemic of Clostridium difficile 027/NAP1/BI in the early to mid-2000s was caused by the spread of two different but highly related strains of the bacterium rather than one as was previously thought. The spread and persistence of both epidemics were driven by the acquisition of resistance to a frontline antibiotic.
- Surgeon infected patients during heart procedure, Cedars-Sinai admits Source: Los Angeles Times (Saturday December 8, 2012)
The hospital says five people were accidentally infected when tears in surgical gloves allowed bacteria on the doctor’s hands to pass into patient’s hearts. Four patients needed second operations.
- Antiseptics Used To Prevent Health Care Infections Might Cause Them. Oops. Source: Wired (Friday December 7, 2012)
Maryn McKenna: Antiseptics meant to prevent infections are causing them; FDA hearing next week
- My mom passed away this morning Source: Dag Blog (Thursday December 6, 2012)
Mother dies from a hospital-acquired C.diff infection.
- Man who had arms, legs amputated sues Sutter Health Source: Sacramento Bee (Friday November 16, 2012)
Story of a man who had his hands and legs amputated because of a MSSA infection (a “cousin of MRSA”) that he says the hospital failed to diagnose and treat properly, even though his son had been treated for a similar infection at the hospital weeks earlier.
- UCLA Medical Center gets failing grade on patient safety Source: LA Times (Wednesday November 28, 2012)
Leapfrog’s national report on patient safety gives Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center an “F.” Leapfrog is national organization that scores hospital safety.
- Deadly 'superbugs' invade U.S. health care facilities Source: USA Today (Thursday November 29, 2012)
A USA TODAY review finds that deadly CRE bacteria are showing up in hospitals and other health care facilities across the country and there is virtually nothing to stop these “superbugs” at this point.
- FDA took 684 days to warn meningitis-linked firm: files Source: Reuters (Wednesday November 21, 2012)
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took 684 days to issue a warning letter after uncovering infractions that could potentially harm patients at the pharmacy at the center of the deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak, newly released documents show.
- Oversight Failures Documented in Meningitis Outbreak Source: New York Times (Wednesday November 21, 2012)
“Newly released documents add vivid detail to the emerging portrait of the Food and Drug Administration’s ineffective and halting efforts to regulate a Massachusetts company implicated in a national meningitis outbreak that has sickened nearly 500 people and killed 34.”
- Check your hospital's infection rates; new Alabama report released today Source: AL.com (Thursday November 15, 2012)
Alabama releases annual report on the state’s hospitals record on infection prevention.
- Report faults states’ oversight of specialty pharmacies Source: Washington Post (Sunday October 28, 2012)
State boards have failed to adequately regulate the safety of practices at specialty pharmacies like the one at the center of the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, according to a congressional report to be released Monday.
- Death of a Boy Prompts New Medical Efforts Nationwide Source: New York Times (Thursday October 25, 2012)
Rory Staunton’s tragic story is raising awareness in NY about detecting and treating sepsis.
- Hospital Food Contaminated With C. diff Source: WebMD (Friday October 19, 2012)
A new report suggests that hospital food is frequently contaminated with the dangerous diarrhea bug Clostridium difficile (C. diff).
- Superbugs Ride Air Currents Around Hospital Units Source: Infection Control Today (Monday October 8, 2012)
Hospital superbugs can float on air currents and contaminate surfaces far from infected patients’ beds, according to University of Leeds researchers.
- Spore Wars C.diff series Source: Center for Health Reporting (Monday October 15, 2012)
Center for Health Reporting and Stockton Record partner to produce a news series on C.diff, a deadly hospital infection.
- Soap, Swabs Slash Infection Rates by 44% Source: HealthLeaders Media (Friday October 19, 2012)
A study conducted at 43 HCA-affiliated community hospitals saw bloodstream infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), drop by 44% when all ICU patients were subjected to daily “universal decolonization” using antimicrobial soap and nasal swabs.
- FDA Statement on Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: Additional Patient Notification Advised Source: FDA (Thursday October 18, 2012)
[Update 10/18/2012] CDC and FDA have confirmed the presence of a fungus known as Exserohilum rostratum in unopened medication vials of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) from one of the three implicated lots from NECC (Lot #08102012@51, BUD 2/6/2013). The laboratory confirmation further links steroid injections from these lots from NECC to the multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis and joint infections. Testing on the other two implicated lots of methylprednisolone acetate and other NECC injectables continues.
- Resource: Five Safe Surgery Tips for Patients Source: ProPublica (Monday October 15, 2012)
Empowered Patient Coalition’s Dr. Julia Hallisy special to ProPublica. For more information, see their free Hospital Guide for Patients and Families: http://www.empoweredpatientcoalition.org/downloads/free/ebook_hospital_care_guide.pdf
- Concerns Raised Over California's Gap in C. Difficile Reporting Source: California Healthline (Monday October 15, 2012)
Patient advocates are raising concerns about a gap in California’s public reporting of cases of Clostridium difficile, which has become one of the most deadly types of infections in the U.S., the Stockton Record reports.
- Gaps exposed in tracking of C. difficile cases Source: CHCF Center for Health Reporting (Monday October 15, 2012)
This is the second in a three-day series examining Clostridium difficile, a potentially lethal infection gaining a foothold in San Joaquin County and across the country.
- Infection found in hospitals can kill Source: CHCF Center for Health Reporting (Sunday October 14, 2012)
This is the first in a three-day series examining Clostridium difficile, a potentially lethal infection gaining a foothold in San Joaquin County and across the country.
- Meningitis Outbreak: 2 More Drugs Probed Source: MedPage Today (Monday October 15, 2012)
Two other drugs made by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) appear to be involved in the fatal meningitis outbreak that has now claimed the lives of 15 people in as many states, the FDA announced Monday.
- 2 die in meningitis outbreak; Saint Thomas neurosurgery clinic shuts down Source: The Tennessean (Monday October 1, 2012)
The Tennessee Department of Health is joining forces with the Center for Disease Control to investigate an unusual outbreak of meningitis that has hit 11 Tennesseans so far, killing two of them.
- What a Failed Vegas Sex Pill and The Meningitis Outbreak Have In Common Source: ProPublica (Wednesday October 10, 2012)
The New England Compounding Center has come under scrutiny for producing a contaminated steroid shot linked to the recent meningitis outbreak.
- This American Life: What Doesn't Kill You Source: This American Life (Friday October 5, 2012)
Podcast interview with comedian Tig Notaro about her cancer treatment and string of misfortunes, including C.diff infection.
- New blood sought for vanished state infections panel Source: Center for Health Reporting (Tuesday October 9, 2012)
The California Department of Public Health is looking for fresh blood for a new panel, people who want to curb infections that can sicken, maim or even kill hospital patients. If that describes you, the deadline to apply is Oct. 19
- Mom says hospital gave son MRSA; infection spread to entire family Source: Fox (Wednesday October 3, 2012)
California 1-month-old baby gets infected after surgery and it spreads to entire family.
- Common hospital-acquired infection rarely reported in the dataset used to implement hospital penalties Source: University of Michigan Health System (Wednesday September 5, 2012)
U-M analysis shows that Medicare policy to withhold payments for catheter-associated urinary tract infections during hospital stays rarely changed payment
- Medicare fines over hospitals’ readmitted patients Source: Daily Herald (Monday October 1, 2012)
As of Monday, Medicare will start fining hospitals that have too many patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge due to complications. The penalties are part of a broader push under President Barack Obama’s health care law to improve quality while also trying to save taxpayers money. Dr. John Santa, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, quoted.
- Antibiotic Alert: The Drug The Doctor Ordered Could Cause Deadly Side Effects Source: Forbes (Sunday September 30, 2012)
The Frightening History of Fluoroquinolones
- Despite lists, experts disagree on the 'best hospitals' Source: USA Today (Thursday September 27, 2012)
Nearly 40% of consumers surveyed last year said they use hospital ratings to choose a health care facility, but there’s little agreement between the lists, raising questions about their value.
- Hospital Infection Event in Las Vegas, October 17, 2012 Source: Office of Public Health Informatics & Epidemiology (Friday September 28, 2012)
Event flyer. Consumer Champions in Infection Prevention event in Las Vegas, October 17, 2012.
- Common antibiotic boosts spread of deadly superbug Source: Indian Express (Saturday September 22, 2012)
New research has found that cases of MRSA – a bacteria that causes serious infections of the skin, blood, lungs and bones – decreased when prescriptions of ciprofloxacin were reduced, suggesting that the common antibiotic is helping the deadly superbug spread through hospitals.
- Herd Immunity: NICU Babies Catch MRSA at Sacramento Hospital Source: Reporting on Health (Wednesday September 19, 2012)
A California hospital tests babies in its NICU in August and more than 20 tested positive for MRSA.
- Right there all along Source: Modern Healthcare (Saturday September 8, 2012)
Latest IOM report lays out how to deliver safer, more effective care by using existing strategies, technology. Arthur Levin, director of the New York-based Center for Medical Consumers, served on the committee that produced To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, as well as on the committee that authored this latest report.
- NIH superbug claims 7th victim Source: Washington Post (Friday September 14, 2012)
Another patient dies from a deadly antibiotic-resistant strain of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae at the NIH hospital in Maryland.
- Popular Antibiotics May Carry Serious Side Effects Source: New York Times (Monday September 10, 2012)
Jane Brody reports for New York Times on the debilitating side effects associated with fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics that includes Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Levaquin (levofloxacin) and Avelox (moxifloxacin). In addition to occasional unwanted effects on the musculoskeletal, visual and renal systems, the drugs in rare cases can seriously injure the central nervous system (causing “brain fog,” depression, hallucinations and psychotic reactions), the heart, liver, skin (painful, disfiguring rashes and phototoxicity), the gastrointestinal system (nausea and diarrhea), hearing and blood sugar metabolism.
- AHRQ program lowers central line-associated infections by 40% Source: Modern Healthcare (Monday September 10, 2012)
An AHRQ program targeting central line-associated bloodstream infections has lowered overall rates of such infections by 40% among participating hospitals, according to government data released Monday.
- IOM Urges 10 Major Healthcare Fixes Source: HealthLeaders Media (Friday September 7, 2012)
The Institute of Medicine releases new 382-page report calling for a major overhaul to remove inefficiencies and other barriers to quality care. The report issues 10 recommendations to improve quality of care, and use healthcare resources better.
- Stop Ignoring Low Quality Ratings Source: HealthLeaders Media (Thursday September 6, 2012)
Hospital executives should not ignore low quality ratings if their hospital gets a low score. Hospitals should not hesitate to “welcome this level of scrutiny and public accountability,” according to a former hospital chief operating officer.
- Where’s the War on Lethal Super-Bugs? Source: Ralph Nadar (Wednesday September 5, 2012)
Ralph Nadar on antibiotic resistant superbugs
- Pen Bay Medical Center working to cut down high readmission rates after Medicare penalty Source: Bangor Daily News (Saturday August 25, 2012)
Maine hospital penalized by Medicare for having high readmission rates.
- Hospital-acquired UTIs rarely reported in data used to implement penalties Source: MedicalExpress.com (Wednesday September 5, 2012)
Urinary Tract Infections are not showing up on billing data used to calculate the rates of infection.
- New Hospital Compare data shows disparity in blood infection rates Source: Fierce Healthcare (Friday February 10, 2012)
Patients at hospitals in Hawaii, Alaska, South Dakota, Kansas and Indiana had the fewest bloodstream infections, according to CMS 2011 data.
- Alaska man treated for flesh-eating infection Source: msnbc (Friday July 6, 2012)
Alaska man contracted serious infection flesh-eating bacteria following surgery and faced amputation.
- MRSA Cases in Alaska Increase Part I Source: KTVA (Monday May 2, 2011)
In light of the 2011 outbreak of MRSA infections in Alaska hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, tracking infection cases is vital, yet the state does not require reporting of hospital infections to the public.
- MRSA Cases in Alaska Increase, Part II Source: KTVA (Tuesday May 3, 2011)
Alaska’s health department does not track cases of MRSA infection or other hospital infections because there is no law requiring hospitals to report infections to the public or state health department.
- Staph infections plague Providence infant care unit Source: Anchorage Daily News (Thursday June 2, 2011)
2011 MRSA outbreak in Alaska hospital’s newborn intensive care unit.
- Medical Errors Harm Huge Number of Patients Source: US News and World Report (Tuesday August 28, 2012)
US News and World Report piece on medical harm and Mary Brennan-Taylor’s advocacy efforts to improve patient safety.
- GUESTWORDS: Hospital Homicides Source: East Hampton Star (Wednesday March 14, 2012)
Richard Rosenthal writes: “It is past time that the government and public adopt the same sense of urgency with healthcare deaths.” Richard can be reached at rrosenth@optonline.net.
- Govt. gene sleuths stop superbug that killed 6 Source: KTVU (Wednesday August 22, 2012)
KTVU reports on how NIH scientists tracked a superbug outbreak at the NIH hospital that killed 6 people.
- State Seeks Improved Reporting of Hospital Central-Line Infections Source: California Healthline (Monday August 27, 2012)
State officials are asking hospitals in California to correct their reporting of central-line infections after a review found that 38% of infections were not counted in 2011, the San Bernardino County Sun reports.
- The “NIH Superbug”: This Is Happening Every Day Source: Wired (Friday August 24, 2012)
Maryn McKenna writes for Wired about the NIH superbug outbreak and the context that media outlets left out in their reporting about the outbreak.
- Letter to the Editor: As superbug spread, NIH failed in its duty to protect Source: Washington Post (Friday August 24, 2012)
Letter to the Editor by Public Citizen’s Michael A. Carome and Sidney M. Wolfe: “By not alerting the public sooner, the NIH denied patients considering inpatient care at its hospital the opportunity to weigh the risk of exposure to this superbug against the benefits of being hospitalized there and to consider seeking care elsewhere.”
- Washington Post Editorial: Tracking a superbug at the NIH Source: Washington Post (Thursday August 23, 2012)
Washington Post editorial on the deadly outbreak at the NIH hospital that left 17 patients dead.
- NIH should have notified it of superbug outbreak, Montgomery County official says Source: Washington Post (Thursday August 23, 2012)
Public wasn’t notified about deadly hospital infection outbreak at NIH hospital. CU’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted.
- ‘Superbug’ stalked NIH hospital last year, killing six Source: Washington Post (Wednesday August 22, 2012)
Spokeswoman says NIH hospital didn’t tell public about a 2011 infection outbreak for a year because they didn’t have to. In fact, the outbreak was not made public until this week, when NIH researchers published a scientific paper describing the advanced genetic technology they deployed to trace the outbreak.
- Genome Detectives Solve a Hospital’s Deadly Outbreak Source: New York Times (Wednesday August 22, 2012)
Rarely used genome sequencing was used to track a deadly bacterial outbreak at the NIH hospital in Bethesda, MD.
- Making Dialysis Safer: Simple tools to protect patients from bloodstream infections Source: CDC Safe Healthcare Blog (Tuesday August 21, 2012)
CDC: Bloodstream infections are one of the most serious types of infections dialysis patients can get. Since 1993, there has been a 40 percent increase in the rates of hospitalizations for bloodstream infection among hemodialysis patients, underscoring the importance of protecting this population.
- ProPublica Tipsheet: How to Use Nursing Home Inspect Source: ProPublica (Tuesday August 14, 2012)
ProPublica has designed Nursing Home Inspect to make it fast and easy to search thousands of recent government inspection reports from around the country, most since the beginning of 2011. Following are some tips to help you get the best results.
- ProPublica: What We Found Using Nursing Home Inspect Source: ProPublica (Tuesday August 14, 2012)
Drawing on government reports posted online last month, ProPublica launched Nursing Home Inspect — a tool that allows anyone to easily search and analyze the details of recent nursing home inspections, most completed since January 2011.
- Guest Blog Post by CR's John Santa, MD MPH: Including Consumers In the Safety Journey Source: An Ounce of Evidence (Tuesday August 14, 2012)
Consumer Reports’ John Santa MD MPH, explains Consumer Reports first hospital safety ratings and the importance of providing reliable information to consumers to improve health and reduce harm.
- Sepsis Survey Reveals Majority Americans, Especially Those Under 35, Have Never Heard of One of Deadliest Killers in America Source: Sepsis Alliance (Friday August 17, 2012)
Fewer than half of Americans have heard of sepsis, according to a new poll commissioned by the Sepsis Alliance.
- Far more could be done to stop the deadly bacteria C. diff Source: USA Today (Thursday August 16, 2012)
A USA TODAY investigation shows that C. diff is far more prevalent than federal reports suggest. The bacteria is linked in hospital records to more than 30,000 deaths a year in the United States— about twice federal estimates and rivaling the 32,000 killed in traffic accidents. It strikes about a half-million Americans a year.
- Photos: The Faces of C.diff Victims Source: USA Today (Thursday August 16, 2012)
18 photos of people who have died from C.diff, a hospital infection. Features 10 people from the Safe Patient Project’s story bank.
- Hospital successfully battles C. diff Source: USA Today (Thursday August 16, 2012)
USA Today: When officials at The Jewish Hospital-Mercy Health in Cincinnati launched a high-priority initiative in 2009 to bring down its skyrocketing C. diff rate, it took far less time and money than they expected to get dramatic results.
- Nurse-led program cuts sepsis deaths in half Source: Fierce Healthcare (Friday August 10, 2012)
A nurse-led fast-track sepsis screening and diagnosis program cut mortality rates in half at nine California hospitals, reports Fierce Healthcare.
- California Public Health Officials Release New Report On Hospital Safety Source: KPBS (Friday August 10, 2012)
The state Department of Public Health has issued a new report on infections in California hospitals. Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project quoted.
- Review finds hospital-acquired infections went unreported Source: California Watch (Friday August 10, 2012)
California public health authorities who reviewed 100 hospitals found that the facilities failed to report as many as a third of the infections they should have reported in 2011 under the state’s public reporting law. Safe Patient Project director Lisa McGiffert quoted.
- Two Arms, Two Choices: If Only I’d Known Then What I Know Now Source: Health Affairs (Wednesday August 1, 2012)
Disabled by faulty arm surgery and harmed by a hospital-acquired infection, a patient wishes he’d been better informed. Article by Colorado patient safety advocate Kerry O’Connell for Health Affairs.
- MRSA on the Rise: Infections Have Doubled in 5 Years Source: The Atlantic (Monday July 30, 2012)
More people checking into hospitals with MRSA than those with either HIV or influenza, combined
- "Damselfly" production is a tribute to HART actress Diana Brookins Source: Oregon Live (Tuesday July 31, 2012)
New play in Oregon’s HART theatre, “Damselfly,” is based on the life and death of 25-year-old Diana Brookins due to medical error.
- Damselfly, the Diana Brookins Story Source: Hart Theatre (Friday July 20, 2012)
Written by HART founder Kim (Sandstrom) Hawksey with collaboration by Helen Haskell of Mothers Against Medical Error, Damselfly is often light-hearted, humorous, and passionate, yet it still conveys the real-life account of a deadly breakdown in our healthcare system and the resulting loss of a bright theatre light.
- Safety advisers say state buried report Source: Times Union (Tuesday August 28, 2012)
A report designed to reduce hospital errors issued by an expert panel on patient safety was ignored by NY Department of Health according to panel members.
- Surgical patient safety program cuts infections by 33% Source: Fierce Healthcare (Monday July 30, 2012)
A patient safety program that combines accurate outcome measurement, support from hospital leadership and engaged frontline providers reduced surgical site infections by 33 percent in patients undergoing colorectal procedures, according to a new study published in the August Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
- New Surgical Patient Safety Program Reduces Surgical Site Infections by One-Third in Patients Who Undergo Colorectal Operations Source: American College of Surgeons (Monday July 30, 2012)
A surgical patient safety program that combines three components—accurate outcome measurement, support of hospital leadership, and engaged frontline providers—reduces surgical site infections (SSIs) by 33 percent in patients who undergo colorectal procedures, according to a new study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
- Flesh-eating infection: Husband seeks autopsy, clues after Farmington Hills woman dies Source: Detroit Free Press (Tuesday July 31, 2012)
Michigan woman dies in the hospital after developing a flesh-eating infection, husband seeks answers
- Why Can’t Medicine Seem to Fix Simple Mistakes? Source: ProPublica (Friday July 20, 2012)
ProPublica writes about several instances of patient harm in the aftermath of the recent death of a 12-year old boy from septic shock. Why can’t hospitals get it right?
- HHS: Few Adverse Events in Hospitals Were Reported to State Adverse Event Reporting Systems Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Thursday July 19, 2012)
HHS OIG report: An estimated 60 percent of adverse and temporary harm events nationally occurred at hospitals in States with reporting systems, yet only an estimated 12 percent of events nationally met State requirements for reporting. Hospitals reported only 1 percent of patient harm events.
- HHS: Hospitals ignoring requirements to report errors Source: USA Today (Friday July 20, 2012)
Hospitals are ignoring state regulations that require them to report cases in which medical care harmed a patient, making it almost impossible for health care providers to identify and fix preventable problems, a report to be released today by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general shows.
- An end to silence Source: The Herald-Palladium (Monday July 16, 2012)
Michigan mom thinks public should know about deadly ‘Superbug’ that went undetected and almost killed her son
- Dentist Exposed Thousands To Possible HIV Infection Source: redOrbit (Sunday July 15, 2012)
An ongoing malpractice investigation centering on a Denver, Colorado oral surgeon has uncovered evidence that he reused syringes and needles, potentially putting thousands of patients at risk of contracting hepatitis or the HIV virus, state health officials revealed on Friday.
- Reused Vials, Unsafe Injections Threatening Patients: CDC Source: HealthDay News (Thursday July 12, 2012)
Life-threatening but completely preventable infections are being contracted by patients in the United States because health care providers fail to follow safe-injection recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new study. The study is published in the July 13 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
- California Hospitals Take Issue With Leapfrog Group's Recent Report Card on Patient Safety Source: California Healthline (Wednesday July 11, 2012)
In a California Healthline Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed a recent Leapfrog Group report card that gave more than 40% of California hospitals a grade of C or lower for patient safety.
- An Infection, Unnoticed, Turns Unstoppable Source: NYT (Thursday July 12, 2012)
A 12 year old shows signs medical professionals would recognize as sepsis, a deadly blood infection, but in this case the sepsis was not recognized and treated resulting in an untimely, unnecessary death.
- Study: MRSA infections down among Tricare patients Source: AHA News (Friday July 6, 2012)
MRSA infection rates declined among Tricare inpatients and outpatients between 2005 and 2010, according to a study in the July 4 Journal of the American Medical Association.
- Report: Two Westchester Hospitals Rank Low In Safety Source: Greenburgh Daily Voice (Tuesday July 10, 2012)
Some hospital patients in Westchester might not be receiving care that’s as safe as they may think, according to a Consumer Reports study that analyzed the safest hospitals in the nation and found that two county hospitals scored poorly.
- Enhancing Medicare's Hospital-Acquired Conditions Policy to Encompass Readmissions Source: Medicare & Medicaid Research Review, 2012 2(2):E1–E15 (Tuesday July 3, 2012)
- How do WNY hospitals rank in new list? Source: WIVB.com (Friday July 6, 2012)
Consumer Reports is out with its new hospital safety ratings. How did hospitals in western New York stack up?
- Consumer Reports Rates Hospital Safety Source: HealthLeaders Media (Thursday July 5, 2012)
Cheryl Clark for HealthLeaders Media reports on Consumer Reports’ new scorecard for hospital safety.
- Herd Immunity: Mount Sinai Medical Center Did a Public Service by Revealing MRSA Cases Source: Reporting on Health (Friday June 22, 2012)
Bill Heisel (Reporting on Health) reports on a NY MRSA study published in CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases.
- Hospital's Drug Diversion Nightmare Spawns Multiple Infections Source: HealthLeaders Media (Thursday June 28, 2012)
New Hampshire patients infected with Hepatitis C linked to healthcare worker drug use on the job.
- Drug-Resistant Germ In Rhode Island Hospital Raises Worries Source: NPR (Friday June 22, 2012)
A strain of this bacteria can be resistant can render resistance to almost all antibiotics.
- Tending the Body’s Microbial Garden Source: New York Times (Monday June 18, 2012)
Researchers say fecal transplants are safe and effective; 83% C. diff patients experience immediate improvement.
- Israeli scientists find new strain of MRSA bacteria spreading in Gaza City Source: Haaretz (Monday June 18, 2012)
Antibiotic-resistant bug may spread through cats, say researchers.
- Study: C. diff More Dangerous Outside of Hospital Source: The Peggy Lillis Memorial Foundation (Monday June 18, 2012)
In April, a CDC study found that people who developed a C. diff Infection outside of the hospital setting (including those living in nursing homes or recently treated in physicians offices) were four times more likely to require a colectomy (surgical removal of the colon) than those who developed symptoms while hospitalized. And people 65 or older are at even higher risk.
- Could The Supreme Court’s Health Care Ruling Kill Patient Safety Reforms? Source: ProPublica (Friday June 15, 2012)
ProPublica asks experts to weigh in on an often overlooked question on the Supreme Court’s health reform decision: What might happen to the many patient safety and quality of care provisions sprinkled through the Affordable Care Act?
- State: Hospital worker abusing drugs likely cause of hepatitis C outbreak Source: Seacoast Online (Wednesday June 13, 2012)
An New Hampshire hospital employee abusing drugs is likely the cause of the hepatitis C outbreak that has now grown to 20 individuals, according to state health officials.
- Study IDs Risk Factors for Fatal MRSA Source: MedPage Today (Wednesday June 13, 2012)
The risk of death from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia increased significantly with age, nursing home residence, and organ impairment, researchers found.
- Some Tarrant hospitals lag in patient safety ratings Source: Star Telegram (Wednesday June 6, 2012)
Star Telegram reports on Leapfrog Group patient safety grades for Tarrant County hospitals.
- Sepsis outbreak at Calif. dialysis center prompts public health investigation Source: Nephrology News & Issues (Tuesday June 5, 2012)
Three end-stage renal disease patients treated at a dialysis center in Los Angeles County, Calif. contracted a bacterial infection in the blood (sepsis) caused by improper cleaning and disinfection of a dialyzer.
- Lack of Hospital Infection Reporting Mandate Leaves Patients at Risk
“This pick-and-choose infection reporting strategy hurts patients. Failing to fully track surgical site infections provides incomplete safety information.”
- Medicare’s no-pay rule sharpens infection-control efforts Source: American Medical News (Monday May 14, 2012)
More than 80% of infection-control professionals believe the CMS policy has led to greater focus on the health care-associated infections targeted under the rule, said a study published in the May American Journal of Infection Control. The CMS policy denies payment to hospitals for the extra cost involved in treating a Medicare patient who is diagnosed with a certain hospital acquired condition during a hospital stay that was not documented upon admission.
- Medicare penalty appears to drive hospital infection prevention efforts Source: APIC (Tuesday May 1, 2012)
APIC study: The 2008 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cease additional reimbursement to hospitals for certain healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has led to enhanced focus on infection prevention and changes in practice by front-line staff.
- Quadruple amputee files lawsuit against doctors, Medical City Source: Dallas Morning News (Sunday May 27, 2012)
Whitney Mitchell, whose arms and legs were amputated after a severe bacterial infection, has filed a lawsuit accusing doctors at Medical City Dallas Hospital of withholding appropriate antibiotics for 38 hours after she was first seen in the emergency room.
- Why was Christian in Hadley, Mass? Reflections on the NEVER Meeting Source: Peggy Foundation (Monday April 30, 2012)
Christian Lillis, co-founder of The Peggy Lillis Memorial Foundation, blogs about attending a gathering of the NorthEast Voices for Error Reduction (NEVER), a regional coalition of patient safety advocates.
- Report: Dirty surgical tools in hospitals putting patients at risk Source: Fox News (Wednesday February 22, 2012)
63-year-old Texas man acquires hospital infection from surgery that ate away at his shoulder bone and rotator cuff, likely from dirty surgical tools. This man was one of seven patients who developed an infection at the same hospital within a two-week timeframe.
- Utah hospital infection rates may soon be public Source: The Salt Lake Tribune (Thursday February 9, 2012)
A Utah bill requiring hospitals to publicly disclose their infection rates won unanimous approval from Senate Health and Human Services Committee members Thursday. Hospitals are already required to report infection information to the federal government, but the new law would make the data available online through the Utah Department of Health.
- Only 10 states post hospital data on surgical site infections Source: American Medical News (Monday April 2, 2012)
From the AMA’s Amednews of April 2: “Only 10 states post hospital data on surgical site infections.” Patients and health care quality would benefit from standardized, nationwide public reporting of more surgical site infections, said John Santa, MD, MPH, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center.
- Curious consumers start to see more hospital data Source: Austin American-Statesman (Sunday March 25, 2012)
Austin American-Statesman analyzes available patient safety data on Texas hospitals and interviews Consumers Union story sharer, Joe Reynolds, who acquired a serious MRSA infection in an Austin hospital that he says took him took 18 months to recover from. His month-long hospitalization cost over $82,000, mostly paid by Medicare.
- Herd Immunity: Better Definitions and Better Data Could Help Stop Superbugs Source: Reporting on Health (Friday March 23, 2012)
We know more about cows in remote ranches than drug-resistant infections in thousands of healthcare facilities nationwide.
- DHSS Ambulatory Surgery Center Inspection Reports Now Available Online Source: NJ Department of Health and Senior Services (Wednesday February 1, 2012)
Consumers can search the DHSS website at www.nj.gov/health/healthfacilities/asc_info.shtml for a specific facility or facilities within a region of the state and review and compare inspection reports for the past three years. They can also view corrective action plans—where appropriate—that surgery centers have filed with the Department to rectify any deficiencies found during inspections.
- Maine nursing homes and hospitals battling deadly gut infection Source: Bangor Daily News (Thursday March 8, 2012)
Maine ranks second in the nation for deaths from a nasty infection spread in health care facilities called C. difficile, according to new data.
- A patient survival guide, from a mother who learned too late Source: The CT Mirror (Thursday March 8, 2012)
Great information and advice by patient safety advocates, Helen Haskell (Mothers Against Medical Error) and Jean Rexford (Connecticut Center for Patient Safety).
- New York’s hospitals need to clean up their act Source: New York Daily News (Monday March 5, 2012)
Low patient safety ratings [by Consumer Reports] are a wakeup call
- The Latest on Clostridium Difficile, From the CDC Source: Wall Street Journal (Wednesday March 7, 2012)
C. diff infections have been on the rise, and 14,000 deaths a year are linked to the bug. The CDC had some new stats on C. diff yesterday. Specifically, it says that 94% of the infections in 2010 were picked up after an encounter with the health-care system — say, a stay in a nursing-home or rehab facility.
- State report finds high infection rate for vaginal hysterectomies; other surgical infections below national estimates Source: Boston Globe (Tuesday February 21, 2012)
infections for coronary artery bypass surgery, knee and hip replacements, and abdominal hysterectomies have decreased but those for vaginal hysterectomies have increased.
- Massachusetts releases report cards on hospital-acquired infections Source: Boston Globe (Wednesday February 8, 2012)
Massachusetts public health officials have called together patient safety leaders to determine why hospitals reported a high rate of surgical infections among women who received vaginal hysterectomies over the past two years.
- State report finds high infection rate for vaginal hysterectomies; other surgical infections below national estimates Source: Boston Globe (Tuesday February 21, 2012)
According to the latest MA state report, number of infections reported for vaginal hysterectomies in the past two years was more than twice what was predicted and higher than the national baseline.
- How dirty medical devices expose patients to infection Source: iWatch News (Wednesday February 22, 2012)
An outbreak of infections at a Texas hospital prompted an investigation of the surgical tools used and raised concerns about dirty devices, including possible design flaws that make them difficult to clean.
- Hospital excels in infection avoidance Source: The Free Lance-Star (Thursday February 9, 2012)
Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted in an article about Virginia’s central line associated infection data.
- Safe To Be Sick Source: National Journal (Thursday January 19, 2012)
Susan Manganello, patient safety advocate in CT, interviewed about the hospital infections that took her 22-year-old daughter’s life in 2005. Public reporting efforts led by consumer advocates have motivated hospitals to reduce their infection rates. Said the CDC’s Denise Cardo: “If it weren’t for Consumers Union pushing for legislation, public reporting, we would not be here now,” she said at a forum sponsored by National Journal and the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology in October. “We have many states with public-reporting legislation. That’s the reason I can come and tell you what is going on in the nation.”
- Kevin Kavanagh and Daniel Saman | Hospital infections are underreported Source: Courier-Journal (Tuesday January 31, 2012)
Op-ed co-published by Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh, founder of Health Watch USA. “A functioning public reporting system is desperately needed, as Kentucky’s current reporting system is broken,” wrote Kavanagh.
- Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist? Source: Kaiser Health News (Monday January 30, 2012)
Article on medical harm in the DC area. The District of Columbia reports on injuries occurring in the city’s hospitals, for example, but doesn’t say at which hospital the problems occurred. The public has a right to information about medical harm that is hospital-specific. Article includes tips by Consumer Reports and Dr. Peter Pronovost on how to stay safe in the hospital.
- Video: Toxic Megacolon Superbug Source: YouTube (Tuesday February 8, 2011)
Video on MRSA and C. diff superbugs found in U.S. retail meat posted by NutritionFacts.org
- Infections Strike Kids in ICUs: Report Source: ABC News (Thursday January 26, 2012)
Consumer Reports: The risk of a serious bloodstream infection contracted in hospitals is 20 percent higher in pediatric intensive care units. More than half of the nation’s pediatric ICUs don’t make their infection data public. This is a very important issue for parents; patients have a right to know information about infections.
- Hospitals' Infection Numbers Flawed Source: Colorado Public Radio (Tuesday January 24, 2012)
CO hospitals’ infection rates checked for first time. Infections under-reported by 33.9%.
- Calif. hospital infection rates look low, but may be incomplete Source: UT San Diego (Wednesday January 18, 2012)
California’s recent public reports on central-line associated hospital infections reflect rates nearly 50 percent lower than the national average, but the latest reports might reveal only half or more of infections cropping up in California. That is why validation of data is essential to getting accurate information out to the public, said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project.
- In Santa Cruz County, hospital infection rates vary Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (Saturday January 7, 2012)
The California Department of Health released its second year of data on hospital acquired infections. CU praised state regulators for posting a broad range of infection data and a consumer friendly surgical infection interactive map that will include more data over time.
- A Winnable Battle Source: The Hospitalist (Sunday January 1, 2011)
Patient safety advocate, Dr. Kevin Kavanagh of Health Watch USA, interviewed about hospital infections.
- Maine's New Laws to Kick in Jan. 1 Source: Maine Public Broadcasting Network (Thursday December 29, 2011)
Starting Jan. 1, hospitals must submit data on Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff., on a monthly basis to federal and state public health officials. A database with MRSA and C. Diff rates will be readily accessible to the public as early as the spring, reports the Maine Hospital Association.
- Public Health Department Fines 14 Hospitals for Patient Safety Errors Source: California Healthline (Friday December 9, 2011)
The California Department of Public Health announced it was imposing $850,000 in fines on 14 hospitals for medical errors that caused or were likely to cause serious patient injury or death.
- Immediate Jeopardy: 14 CA Hospitals Fined $850,000 Source: HealthLeaders Media (Monday December 12, 2011)
Another 14 California hospitals have been ordered to pay fines totaling $850,000 in the latest round of medical errors involving immediate jeopardy to patients, state health officials said last week.
- State hospital reporting to become obsolete? Source: Fierce Healthcare (Thursday December 8, 2011)
Hospital in Ohio–including the Ohio Hospital Association–are supporting the repeal of state law (House Bill 353) in which hospitals disclose their quality data online in the state database called Ohio Hospital Compare, reports Dayton Daily News.
- Gut Reaction
C.diff is a deadly bug in hospitals across the U.S. and we need better infection control and mandatory public reporting to help control the spread of C.diff.
- Infection Clusters in Chemo Clinics 'Tip of the Iceberg,' Says CDC Source: HealthLeaders Media (Thursday October 27, 2011)
Problems with infection control and prevention in outpatient oncology facilities
- Man vs hospitals on infection rate info Source: Wood TV (Tuesday November 29, 2011)
Michigan consumer working to get a state law requiring hospitals to disclose their infection rates.
- 'Don't tell' culture a plague on health care Source: Lexington Herald Leader (Monday December 5, 2011)
Op-ed by Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, chairman of Health Watch USA.
- Hospitals support repeal of data rule Source: Dayton Daily News (Sunday December 4, 2011)
The Ohio Hospital Association is backing repeal of a five-year rule requiring disclosure of hospital quality data on a state website, a step backwards for consumers looking for information about their local hospitals.
- Patient Safety Advocates Start New England Watchdog Group Source: CT Health I-Team (Tuesday November 22, 2011)
New England patient safety activists form New England Voices For Error Reduction (NEVER), a group that aims to work regionally for safe health care.
- Antibiotic use higher in East than West Source: USA Today; 11/16/2011 (Wednesday November 16, 2011)
Antibiotic use varies widely in the USA, with those in Eastern states more likely to use them than those in the West, according to research out Wednesday.
- Antibiotics Use Map
What are the most prescribed antibiotic classes and where is consumption most intensive?
- Outpatient Antibiotic Utilization Highest in West Virginia and Kentucky Source: Epidemonomics Blog (Thursday November 17, 2011)
That two small Appalachian states, with a struggling healthcare system, would be at the top of the list for outpatient antibiotic utilization is not unexpected. Read the explanation for these high rates.
- Study Finds Even the Cleanest Wastewater Contributes to More 'Super Bacteria' Source: Infection Control Today (Tuesday November 15, 2011)
Study finds municipal wastewater, even wastewater treated by the highest-quality treatment technology, can contribute to antibiotic resistance quantities in surface waters. A high percentage of hospital-acquired infections are caused by highly resistant bacteria.
- Pneumonia most common infection after heart surgery Source: American Heart Association (Tuesday November 15, 2011)
Pneumonia — not a deep incision surgical site infection — is the most common serious infection after heart surgery, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2011.
- What Should Doctors Wear? Even Lab Coats Could Spread Disease Source: The Atlantic (Monday November 7, 2011)
The Empowered Patient co-founder, Julia Hallisy, quoted about the importance of addressing the spread of germs in hospitals.
- Goodbye to Ohio’s hospital performance comparison website? Source: Medcity (Friday October 28, 2011)
The Ohio Hospital Association is trying to repeal Ohio’s hospital public reporting law that requires disclosure of important patient safety information to Ohio consumers.
- Hawaii Public Kept in Dark about Hospital Infections Source: Honolulu Civil Beat (Tuesday August 30, 2011)
Hawaii doesn’t require public disclosure of hospital infections and state lawmakers have hindered efforts to require disclosure, leaving patients and families in the dark.
- AHRQ Awards $34 Million To Expand Fight Against Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: AHRQ (Wednesday November 2, 2011)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced today that it has awarded $34 million in fiscal year 2011 for grants and contracts to hospitals, academic medical institutions, and health care research organizations to expand the fight against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
- 'Never events' at hospitals go unnoticed Source: News-Leader (Saturday October 29, 2011)
Hospital patients and their relatives in Missouri and most of the United States have no way of learning about most adverse events. Most adverse events aren’t publicly reported.
- Harbor-UCLA Medical Center cited for safety violations Source: Los Angeles Times (Saturday October 29, 2011)
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has failed to keep its operating rooms clean and safe and to protect its patients from possible infection, according to federal inspection reports recently released to The Times.
- Tracking infections helps save lives Source: Concord Monitor (Sunday October 30, 2011)
Op-ed written by Lori Nerbonne of New Hampshire Patient Voices. New Hampshire House Bill 602 would require ambulatory surgical centers to pay a fee to help finance the NH hospital infection reporting program, just like hospitals do. But recent amendments put the state reporting program in danger.
- Editorial: Public needs more details on patient safety at hospitals Source: Dallas Morning News (Monday October 17, 2011)
The public needs more information about how well their hospitals and doctors perform on ensuring the safety of their patients.
- How safe is your hospital? New website lets you check Source: msnbc.com (Monday October 17, 2011)
Medicare’s Hospital Compare website allows the public to see how their hospital is doing on a range of patient safety and quality measures. The data provides a snapshot of how hospitals are performing on certain quality measures. Medicare will eventually use this patient outcomes information to base payments to hospitals.
- Blood Infection Costliest U.S. Hospital Condition: Report Source: USA Today (Friday October 7, 2011)
Septicemia was the single most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals in 2009, with a cost of about $15.4 billion, according to a federal government report.
- Things May Get Worse For ‘Worst’ Hospitals, Study Warns Source: Kaiser Health News (Wednesday October 5, 2011)
New study of “worst” hospitals identifies low-quality, high-cost hospitals based on Medicare’s reports of how often each hospital followed recommended guidelines of care for basic things like giving heart attack patients aspirin upon admission. As required by the Affordable Care Act, Medicare will reduce payments to hospitals with substandard care at a high price.
- Patient advocates seek public access to hospital accreditation surveys Source: Healthcare Finance News (Thursday September 22, 2011)
A collection of more than 50 patient advocates, including doctors, lawyers and chief executive officers, are asking Congress to allow public access to hospital accreditation surveys.
- Hospitals readmission rates under scrutiny Source: Austin American-Statesman (Wednesday September 28, 2011)
A new national study indicates that too many hospitals are fumbling and could face penalties if they don’t improve within a year. Texas hospitals respond.
- Video: How to Prevent Infection after Surgery Source: Fox 11 News (Wednesday September 21, 2011)
California patient safety advocate, Alicia Cole, discusses what you should do to stay safe in the hospital. Alicia almost died from a flesh-eating bacteria she contracted following routine fibroid surgery.
- Hospital privacy curtains laden with germs Source: Reuters (Thursday September 22, 2011)
Two-thirds of hospital privacy curtains tested positive for potentially deadly bacteria (including MRSA), a University of Iowa study shows.
- An epidemic that states have to stop Source: Times Union (Wednesday August 24, 2011)
Each year C. diff. infections (CDIs) claim the lives of what may be hundreds of New Yorkers, from toddlers to seniors. Thousands more face life-altering bouts with the disease, often acquired in health care settings and resistant to common medications.
- War on hospital infections drags on Source: USA Today (Tuesday September 20, 2011)
Consumers Union Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted in USA Today hospital infection story. CU story sharer, Cheri Stout-Robinson, interviewed about the flesh-eating infection she caught in her C-section wound following the birth of her second child.
- Report Finds Improved Performance by Hospitals Source: New York Times (Wednesday September 14, 2011)
NYT coverage of the Joint Commission report on hospital process measures. Consumers Union Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted: “Highlight the poorest performers.”
- Rater: 16 South Florida hospitals among nation's best Source: Sun Sentinel (Wednesday September 14, 2011)
New hospital quality ratings by the Joint Commission fall short because they look only at preventive steps the hospitals took, not which hospitals did best at preventing bad results, said Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert.
- Study faults care at Fayetteville dialysis clinics Source: FayObserver.com (Monday September 5, 2011)
Infection control and other patient safety recurring failures documented at three Fayetteville dialysis clinics.
- 12 hospitals are fined over medical errors Source: Los Angeles Times (Thursday September 8, 2011)
The California Department of Public Health fines 12 hospitals for patient safety violations likely to cause serious injury or death.
- Hospitals fined $650k for patient safety violations in California Source: Fierce Healthcare (Thursday September 8, 2011)
A dozen California hospitals are fined with a total of $650,000 for patient safety violations. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) yesterday announced that these hospitals failed to comply with requirements that would likely cause serious injury or death to their patients.
- Groups push for Congress to open hospital accreditation reports Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (Thursday September 8, 2011)
A coalition of state and national patient safety activists, including Consumers Union, are pressing Congress to open reports by The Joint Commission, a non-profit group that performs most of the hospital accreditations performed nationwide. The federal government does not disclose the survey results now. Making the survey results public would give patients more information about hospitals’ operations, including their efforts to prevent hospital-acquired infections, and foster greater transparency.
- Investigate staffing, infection rates at UK hospital Source: The Lexington Herald (Sunday September 4, 2011)
Op-ed written by Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh (chairman of Health Watch USA) regarding the quality of care at a Kentucky hospital.
- Survivor of hospital-acquired infection sounds a call for reform Source: San Jose Mercury News (Wednesday August 31, 2011)
Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.
- How Hospitals Harm Us Source: Daily Beast (Wednesday August 31, 2011)
Effective and disturbing graphics and statistics on hospital patient safety performance. (Medical Billing and Coding)
- Wisconsin hospital may have infected thousands of patients Source: The Hill (Monday August 29, 2011)
One of the nation’s largest integrated care systems may have put thousands of patients at risk of getting dangerous bloodborne infections including hepatitis and HIV over a five-year period.
- NY woman, university fight against medical errors Source: Wall Street Journal (Monday August 22, 2011)
By the time they graduate, every doctor coming out of the University at Buffalo will have gotten a lesson from Mary Brennan-Taylor. Mary lost her mother to hospital infections and the use of numerous medications.
- Hospital-related infections drop under California initiative Source: Los Angeles Times (Tuesday August 23, 2011)
Scores of California hospitals, under pressure to reduce infections that kill an estimated 12,000 patients every year, say they have managed to cut costs and save lives through an initiative that has nurses and doctors redoubling efforts to prevent deadly germs from taking root.
- State health officials can’t track hospital-related infections Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sunday August 21, 2011)
Georgia hospitals are not required to provide information about their infection rates to the public, leaving consumers in the dark about how safe their hospital might be on preventing infections.
- Study identifies new way to treat common hospital-acquired infection Source: UCLA (Sunday August 21, 2011)
New study identifies possible way to treat Clostridium difficile infection.
- Parkland Officials Talk About Critical Report Source: KERA (Thursday August 18, 2011)
Parkland Hospital were cited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) for having deficiencies in infection control and emergency room care.
- Doctors Take Aim At Antibiotic Resistance From Factory Farming Source: Huffington Post (Tuesday August 16, 2011)
The wide and questionable use of antibiotics in animal factory farming is contributing to antibiotic resistance in humans and a need to create new antibiotics and/or control the use of current antibiotics. Time is running out.
- Daughter’s death gives mother a cause Source: The Buffalo News (Saturday August 13, 2011)
NY patient safety advocate, Martha Deed, shares her story about her daughter’s untimely death due to hospital acquired infection and her calling to make hospitals safer.
- Illinois surgery centers slip on infection control Source: Associated Press (Sunday August 7, 2011)
Here is a list of Illinois surgery centers that were cited for infection-control problems. Last year, The Associated Press examined reports in Illinois and found that nearly 76 percent of centers that were inspected were cited for infection-control problems.
- Seven Hospitals Share Distinction Of Highest Readmission Rates Source: Kaiser Health News (Tuesday August 9, 2011)
These hospitals all had worse readmission rates than the average hospital for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia patients — the three categories Medicare tracks. You can look up your local hospital’s rates on Hospital Compare by searching for the hospital’s name and then selecting the “Outcomes of Care” tab for that institution.
- Medicare data can help patients fill perception gap Source: USA Today (Friday August 5, 2011)
Patient satisfaction surveys about hospitals don’t tell the whole story of a hospital’s care ; concrete measures like hospital death and readmission rates help give a fuller picture of the patient safety conditions in a hospital.
- Patient Safety America Newsletter
The newsletter includes great information about the safety of drug devices.
- Some Calif. Hospitals Could Lose Medicare Funds Under CMS Rule Source: California Healthline (Thursday August 4, 2011)
“Some California hospitals are at risk of having Medicare payments lowered under a CMS final rule that will slash reimbursements to facilities identified as having high 30-day readmission rates for patients with certain conditions, California Watch reports (Jewett, California Watch, 8/3).”
- Statewide Program Aims To Improve Diagnosis, Treatment of Sepsis Source: California Healthline (Tuesday August 2, 2011)
“Physicians, nurses and caregivers in California have begun receiving training on treating the blood infection sepsis as part of a three-year, $6 million statewide program to improve patient safety and cut health care costs, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.”
- Medicare rule would decrease payments to hospitals with high re-admission rates Source: The Washington Post (Saturday July 30, 2011)
In an effort to save money and improve care, Medicare, the federal program for the elderly and disabled, is about to release a final rule aimed at getting hospitals to pay more attention to patients after discharge. This includes cutting back payments to hospitals where high numbers of patients are re-admitted [often due to infections or medical harm].
- Mary Brennan-Taylor, advocate for change Source: Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Monday August 1, 2011)
After losing her mother to medical error, patient safety advocate is named a University of Buffalo adjunct research instructor. Mary is active with CU’s Safe Patient Project campaign.
- U.S. health care system fails to deliver Source: Politico (Sunday July 31, 2011)
Don Berwick editorial: U.S. health care system fails to deliver
- The future of healthcare: Patient safety Source: Modern Healthcare (Monday July 25, 2011)
Dr. Peter Pronovost on getting to zero central line-associated bloodstream infections.
- U.S. Attorney says nursing home's 'worthless' care led to deaths, injuries Source: Kentucky Herald-Leader (Tuesday July 19, 2011)
The complaint alleges that from 2004 to 2008, numerous patients suffered serious injuries; five of those patients died. Some of the residents who died went days without baths; they weren’t given enough to drink; and their pressure sores were not treated, leading to fatal infections, the complaint alleges.
- Going into hospital far riskier than flying Source: Los Angeles Times (Thursday July 21, 2011)
Millions of people die each year from medical errors and infections linked to health care and going into hospital is far riskier than flying, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.
- Texas hospital mistakes to be reported, new tools for patients Source: WeAreAustin.com (Tuesday July 19, 2011)
Texas lawmakers passed bills in 2007 and 2009 requiring hospitals to report infections and medical errors to the Department of State Health Services. But the programs have yet to be funded and enforced. CU story sharer Katherine Daniel and CU Safe Patient Project director Lisa McGiffert quoted.
- Moving Toward Safer Outpatient Care: CDC Releases Guide for Preventing Infections Source: CDC Safe Healthcare (Wednesday July 13, 2011)
CDC Releases Infection Prevention Guide to Promote Safe Outpatient Care
- Antibiotics helping breed deadly stomach bacteria in San Francisco hospitals Source: San Francisco Examiner (Friday July 8, 2011)
C.diff infections are a major and messy problem in CA hospitals and nationwide.
- Two San Francisco Hospitals Report Cases of C. Difficile Source: California Healthline (Wednesday July 13, 2011)
Two San Francisco hospitals recently reported outbreaks of C.diff, a drug-resistant bacterial infection that typically affects patients receiving antibiotics.
- The hospital patient’s safety checklist, part 2 Source: Bangor Daily News (Monday July 11, 2011)
Doctor authors patient safety checklist. Patient safety activist Kathy Day responds in the comment section.
- Patient co-pilot checklist for safety — Part 1 Source: Bangor Daily News (Monday June 27, 2011)
Doctor authors patient safety checklist.
- Public, patients have right to know hospitals' infection rates Source: Kentucky.com (Monday July 11, 2011)
Op-ed by Daniel M. Saman and Kevin T. Kavanagh, MD. “Although we’re a nation of statistics gatherers, there is one glaring omission in this endless list of measurements: how safe our health care facilities are.”
- Prevention: A Better Use for Cotton Swabs Than Ear Cleaning Source: New York Times (Friday July 1, 2011)
This study shows that, in even the most challenging cases, infections can be prevented or minimized significantly.
- When the treatment makes patients sick Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sunday June 12, 2011)
New federal statistics offer consumers a first-ever look at how well metro Atlanta hospitals are doing at protecting patients from potentially deadly threats; Georgia does not require hospitals to publicly report infection rates and medical errors.
- Denver Hospital Sets the Bar for Patient Safety Source: PBS (Thursday June 30, 2011)
“[t]his safety net hospital for the poor and uninsured now has the lowest mortality rate of any academic medical center in the country.”
- Kathy Day of Maine
Her father’s ordeal after a minor injury convinced her that “consumers and patients cannot completely rely on our hospitals to protect us and our safety.”
- Illinois is poised to reveal staph infections as killers Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Thursday June 30, 2011)
Death certificates in IL will say whether the patient died of MRSA or other infections that are resistant to multiple drugs if they contributed to or caused a death.
- ASC Infection Control Surveys: What Are They Finding?
CDC researcher says unsafe infection practices, improper equipment reprocessing and poor environmental cleaning persist at ambulatory surgical centers.
- Virginia, Tennessee hospitals save $1.2M via infection reductions Source: Healthcare Finance News (Friday June 24, 2011)
After implementing a hand washing “action plan,” four hospitals in southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee reduced healthcare-acquired infection rates.
- Simple Cotton Swab Slashes Post-Operative Surgery Site Infections
Study finds cotton swabs slash infections in post-operative incision sites.
- Illinois Appellate Court Ruling Means Hospitals Must Release Data about Incidents of MRSA Infections Source: dBusiness News (Wednesday June 29, 2011)
A recent Illinois Appellate Court opinion, which reversed the decision of a lower court, will make it easier for all hospital patients who acquire methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureas (MRSA) to obtain medical records for the purpose of pursuing legal action.
- California Hospitals Sue Over Reporting Infections Source: CBS San Francisco (Monday June 20, 2011)
Features CU story sharers Bob and Val Flood.
- New Hospital Infection Reporting Rules Source: KQED Radio (Thursday June 23, 2011)
A San Francisco judge has ruled that California hospitals must expand their reporting of surgical infection rates to state regulators. The California Hospital Association tried to block the new reporting rules, which would require hospitals to track infection rates related to more than two dozen kinds of surgeries.
- Judge upholds rules on hospital infection reports Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Thursday June 23, 2011)
California hospitals lost their bid to avoid reporting their infection rates to the public. A California judge upheld a 2008 state law – one of the strongest in the nation – that calls on hospitals to report infections occurring from a broad array of surgeries.
- Patients Demand Honesty about Staph Infections
Radio coverage of the San Francisco rally to protest lawsuit against California’s hospital infection reporting law. Features CA-based activists Ty Moss of Nile’s Project and Tina Manasian.
- Grave errors often not reported, data suggest Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (Sunday June 19, 2011)
Nevada’s new reporting laws will help Nevadans make decisions about care and shed light on whether hospitals are reporting their errors accurately.
- Rally on giving consumers info about Hospital-Acquired Infections
Join Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project and CA hospital infection activists for a patient safety rally outside the San Francisco Superior Court next Wednesday, June 22 from 8:30-9:30am (400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102). The rally is meant to show visibility of hospital infection survivors and family members before the 9:30am court hearing concerning a CA lawsuit to block surgical infection reporting requirements.
- State, hospitals spar in court over public reports on surgery infections Source: California Watch (Thursday June 16, 2011)
The state attorney general’s office filed legal documents this week arguing that hospitals are required to file monthly reports on infections related to 29 types of surgeries, defending a legal challenge from the California Hospital Association.
- Infection Risk Lurks in Hospital ICUs Source: WebMD Health News (Tuesday June 7, 2011)
WebMD coverage of a new Consumer Reports Health study on central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospitals across the country. You can view the study here.
- APIC, SHEA Seek to Block Infection Disclosure Rules in CA Source: HealthLeaders Media (Wednesday June 8, 2011)
Hospital infection public disclosure fight in California.
- Editorial: Hospital infections too deadly to ignore Source: Sacramento Bee (Wednesday June 1, 2011)
Delaying progress on hospital infections in California is unacceptable.
- Which hospital highest in infections? Source: Health News Florida (Wednesday May 25, 2011)
Medicare’s release of central line associated bloodstream infections reveals problems at a Florida hospital with protecting patients from these harmful infections.
- 44 states try new protocol, but not California Source: Sacramento Bee (Tuesday May 31, 2011)
A hospital infection prevention program showing great results gets no welcome in California. According to the Sacramento Bee, leaders of the state’s hospital industry turned down an invitation to join the program two years ago, along with as much as $70,000 in federal funding.
- UCD Med Center fights infections; VA facility finds success Source: Sacramento Bee (Monday May 30, 2011)
An estimated 12,000 Californians die annually from preventable hospital infections, according to state Department of Public Health statistics. Read about what some California hospitals are doing to address the problem.
- Deadly bacteria lurk inside hospital wards Source: Sacramento Bee (Sunday May 29, 2011)
A lack of urgency at the California Department of Public Health stifles progress on hospital infection prevention, leaving California patients at risk.
- Hospitals Face New Pressure To Cut Infection Rates Source: NPR (Saturday May 28, 2011)
Starting this year, hospitals have to reveal their catheter-associated blood stream infections if they want their Medicare bills paid in full. Next year, they’ll have to report surgical-site infections. The list will grow longer in the coming years. Patient safety activist David Meyer shares his hospital infection story.
- Health council says major heart surgery safer in Pennsylvania Source: Patriot News (Thursday May 19, 2011)
The Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council has released a report on heart surgeries. The report includes number of deaths, infections, readmissions and other complications. It can be found at www.phc4.org.
- Hospitals: Cuts jeopardize improvements Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Wednesday May 25, 2011)
Pennsylvania hospitals have more work to do until they reach zero infections. Read the PA hospital association report here.
- Hospital infections often not reported Source: Reno Gazette (Monday May 16, 2011)
A review of billing data shows that there are more infections in hospitals than are reported to the state.
- HHS Unveils New Interactive Video to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: US Department of Health and Human Services (Friday May 13, 2011)
The training video allows you to chose different scenarios while in the hospital and lets you choose how you would react to different situations in order to avoid hospital infections.
- Doctors Fret Over Rise In Prostate Biopsy Infections Source: NPR (Monday May 23, 2011)
A recent U.S. study, conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers on records of more than 150,000 Medicare patients, found that 7 percent suffer serious complications requiring hospital care within 30 days after prostate biopsy. Some of these complications include infection.
- Live health chat: Staying safe in the hospital Source: WPMT (Tuesday June 7, 2011)
Join a live chat at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, June 7, to chat about hospital safety with Tribune reporter Judy Graham, and panelists Dr. Julia Hallisy (Empowered Patient Coalition) and Lisa McGiffert (Director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project).
- Patient advocacy group aims to educate Source: Littleton Courier (Friday May 20, 2011)
Lori Nerbonne and Kelly Grasso started advocating for reporting of hospital aquired infections and medical errors after their mother ultimately died of a series of medical errors, including hospital infections. They have since started a non-profit advocacy group called New Hampshire Patient Voices.
- Safety of hospital stays greatly affected by staff and culture Source: Chicago Tribune (Thursday May 12, 2011)
Still facing problems with patienty safety, hospitals must enact a culture change to make sure patients get the care they deserve. Features stories from patient safety advocates Kathy Day and Lori Nerbonne.
- 21 dialysis clinics in S.C., including 1 in Moncks Corner, listed as having alarmingly high death rates Source: The Post and Courier (Saturday May 7, 2011)
South Carolina dialysis patient, Tony Simmons, speaks out against the poor conditions he’s observed and errors he’s experienced, at a SC dialysis clinic. 19 percent of SC clinics had a “worse than expected” mortality rate, appearing more frequently than in neighboring states.
- Patient's family seeks answers Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch (Thursday May 5, 2011)
Ambiguous records at St. John’s and inability to get information frustrate wife and daughter of man, now deceased.
- Prostate Exam Deaths From ‘Superbugs’ Spur Inquiry Into Cancer Tests Source: Bloomberg (Thursday May 5, 2011)
Testing for prostate cancer may be over used by the medical profession as well as exposing patients to bacteria that can lead to deadly infections.
- C diff Outbreak: 3 Deaths, 19 Cases Source: 13WHAM.com (Thursday May 13, 4)
An outbreak of C difficile infections at United Memorial Medical Center is being linked to the death of three patients.
- Wrestling with Recurrent Infections Source: The Scientist (Sunday May 1, 2011)
Clostridium difficile is evolving more robust toxicity, repeatedly attacking its victims, and driving the search for alternative therapies to fight the infection.
- Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Issues Annual Report for 2010 Source: Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (Thursday April 28, 2011)
The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority issued its 2010 Annual Report highlighting its Patient Safety Liaison (PSL) program and educational activities as well as reductions in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in hospitals and nursing homes.
- WHYY Radio: Hospital-Acquired Infections Source: WHYY Radio (Thursday April 28, 2011)
Radio interview with patient advocate Kerry O’Connell about his battle with a hospital-acquired infection.
- Sen. wants no repeat of VA hospital issues in Ohio Source: Chicago Tribune (Tuesday April 26, 2011)
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown held a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to insure that the infection failures be fixed at the Dayton VA hospital where VA investigators found that infection control policies were violated and a dentist failed for years to change gloves or sterilize instruments between patients.
- Hospitals must change surgical scrub culture from within Source: William Heisel's Antidote: Investigating Untold Health Stories (Wednesday April 27, 2011)
Julia Hallisy, cofounder of The Empowered Patient Coalition, writes about surgical scrubs transferring infections when they are worn outside the hospital
- Family cries foul after fatal bacterial infection in Grapevine Source: Star-Telegram (Tuesday April 26, 2011)
Despite the threat posed by MRSA infections — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — community-based facilities in Texas are not required to report such cases to local, state or federal health officials. Nor are hospitals required to report cases or notify residents of the same facility.
- Health law takes aim at hospital infections Source: The News Journal (Thursday April 21, 2011)
Lana Lawrence of Rehoboth Beach interviewed about the hospital infection she acquired after gallbladder surgery, which left her with a health care bill that was “easily over $100,000″ mostly paid by her insurance company.
- FDA: Hand Sanitizers Carry Unproven Claims to Prevent MRSA Infections Source: Food and Drug Administration (Wednesday April 20, 2011)
Some hand sanitizers and antiseptic products come with claims that they can prevent MRSA infections. Don’t believe them. These statements are unproven, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- "Please, please don't infect me" Source: Times Union (Monday April 18, 2011)
Cathleen Crowley reports on the healthcare-acquired infections panel at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists, where patient safety activist Kerry O’Connell served as a panelist.
- CDC issues guidance on preventing bloodstream infections Source: American Medical News (Tuesday April 19, 2011)
Hospitals are required to report their ICU central-line infection rates or risk losing 2% in Medicare pay.
- Las Vegas Sun named Pulitzer Prize finalist for series on hospital care in Las Vegas Source: Daily Reporter (Monday April 18, 2011)
Marshall Allen and Alex Richards wokrdded two years on an investigative report on the safety of Las Vegas hospitals, combing through almost 3 millioin billing records. Read the series The series “Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas.”
- Health care transparency bills clear state Senate committee Source: Las Vegas Sun (Thursday April 14, 2011)
Nevada has come a long way getting hospital safety information to the public. Five bills this session require public reporting of infections and other medical errors.
- Partnership for Patients aims to cut errors Source: San Antonio Express-News (Friday April 15, 2011)
A recently announced initiative announced by the federal government aims to reduce medical harm like the kind suffered by William Wittman of San Antonio.
- Reducing the Cost of Medical Errors: Spend A Little To Save A Lot Source: Health Beat Blog (Wednesday April 13, 2011)
Maggie Mahar blogs on the significant cost savings from the Department of Health and Human Services initiative to invest money to prevent serious errors and frequent hospital admissions,
- Alicia Cole, Actor - Creating a Legacy After Her Hospital Infection Experience Source: About.com Patient Empowerment (Wednesday April 13, 2011)
Q&A with Alicia Cole about surviving a flesh-eating infection she acquired after a routine surgery in 2006, and the legacy she is creating by using her story to advocate for patient safety.
- Actor Alicia Cole - Supporting Others After Her Flesh Eating Bacteria Experience Source: About.com Patient Empowerment (Thursday April 14, 2011)
Alicia Cole has devoted years of her time and energy advocating to making hospitals safer after catching a flesh-eating bacteria in the hospital that almost took her life.
- Southern California Hospitals Taking Action To Combat Spread of Drug-Resistant 'Superbug' Source: California Healthline (Wednesday April 13, 2011)
Audio report about hospitals are dealing with highly drug-resistant bacteria that can lead to harmful infections. Interview features Julia Hallisy, co-found of the Empowered Patient Coalition.
- Op-Ed: Giving Doctors Orders Source: New York Times (Tuesday April 12, 2011)
NYT Columnist Maureen Dowd shares her story about her brother contracting four infections in the ICU, and the challenge of asking your doctors and nurses to wash their hands before touching you or your loved ones.
- Study Finds Drop in Deadly V.A. Hospital Infections Source: New York Times (Wednesday April 13, 2011)
A four-year MRSA prevention program yields significant results–CDC should make MRSA screening a tier one prevention category.
- White House targets medical errors Source: Los Angeles Times (Wednesday April 13, 2011)
The Obama administration announced Tuesday an initiative aimed at reducing the number of medical errors that occur in U.S. hospitals.
- New hospital-safety plan leaves patients in the dark Source: Consumer Reports Health (Tuesday April 12, 2011)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a new hospital-safety plan for the nation, but they left out any mention of letting patients know how things are going.
- How Safe is Your Hospital? NV Legislation Addresses the Issues Source: Public News Service (Tuesday April 12, 2011)
“Nevadans could find out a whole lot more about infection rates and other safety issues at local hospitals and nursing homes, with five bills on such matters up for discussion today in the Legislature.”
- HHS takes aim at medical errors, health care costs Source: CNN Health (Tuesday April 12, 2011)
CU’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted by CNN health blog on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “Partnership for Patients” initiative.
- Medicare releases data on hospital errors Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Thursday April 7, 2011)
Medicare now offers some information on medical errors to allow patients to compare hospitals’ safety records.
- Hospital checklist cut infections, saved lives Source: CNN (Friday April 8, 2011)
Hospitals that implemented a program including a simple, five-point checklist managed to decrease rates of an infection that kills 31,000 patients every year, according to a new study done for the federal government.
- Antibiotic resistance: Bacteria are winning the war Source: Guardian UK (Thursday April 7, 2011)
Can we reduce drug resistant bacterial infections by controlling the use of antibiotics?
- Hospital infection disclosure bills gaining support Source: Las Vegas Sun (Tuesday April 5, 2011)
A package of bills to require hospitals and other medical facilities to expand their reporting of infections acquired by patients under their care appears to be gaining support.
- Media Reports about Drug-Resistant Infections Source: CDC Safe Healthcare Blog (Tuesday March 29, 2011)
CDC’s Arjun Srinivasan, MD: “We have prevention recommendations–they just need to be enacted.”
- CT Hospitals Beat National Average On ICU Bloodstream Infections Source: CT Health I-Team (Thursday March 31, 2011)
This report is the first of its kind in Connecticut, allowing consumers to view central line associated bloodstream infection data reported by Connecticut hospitals.
- Connecticut Department of Health Issues First Public Report of Hospital Infections Source: Becker's ASC Review (Thursday March 31, 2011)
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has released a report on central line-associated bloodstream infections acquired in Connecticut acute-care hospitals.
- Drug-resistant strain of pneumonia shows up in Southern California Source: Ventura County Star (Wednesday March 30, 2011)
A drug-resistant strain of bacterial pneumonia thought to be contained on the East Coast has shown up in unexpectedly high numbers in Southern California, but so far the numbers have not spiked in Ventura County.
- Video: Drug-Resistant Bacterium Can Kill Source: ABC News (Friday March 25, 2011)
ABC News reports on a new superbug (CRKP) speading across the country and powerful medicines are unable to treat them. Steve Winters interviewed about his mother who died after acquiring multiple hospital infections.
- Harrison infection rates improve, but remain higher than state averages Source: Kitsap Sun (Monday March 28, 2011)
WA hospital says infection reporting is helping
- Superbug CRKP Increasing in California; 350+ Superbug Infections Source: ThirdAge (Wednesday March 30, 2011)
Superbug Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, has been found in a number of Los Angeles County hospitals and nursing homes.
- Feds to Follow ProPublica, Release Dialysis Clinic Data Source: ProPublica (Tuesday March 29, 2011)
Federal regulators say they are moving to make once-confidential data about the performance of kidney dialysis clinics more readily available to the public.
- Son Campaigns Against Hospital-Borne Infections That Killed Mom Source: Kolotv.com (Friday March 25, 2011)
Steve Winters’ mother died last year of infections he says she contracted while in the hospital. Now he’s joined a campaign to publicize what health experts say is a growing menace.
- A century later, openess still gets tepid embrace Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday March 27, 2011)
Even though progress has been made, still, some in the health care industry resist the calls for transparency.
- Admitting harm protects patients Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday March 27, 2011)
A transparency battle is underway in Nevada. Nevada lawmakers are considering bills requiring hospitals statewide to publicly report injuries suffered in their facilities and other quality measures.
- Bills would make hospitals’ data on safety issues public Source: Las Vegas Sun (Thursday March 24, 2011)
Several patient safety bills have been filed in the Nevada legislature in hopes of bringing more transparency to medical care in Nevada hospitals.
- 'Superbug' spreading to Southern California hospitals Source: LA Times (Thursday March 24, 2011)
More than 350 cases of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, have been reported at healthcare facilities in Los Angeles County, mostly among elderly patients at skilled-nursing and long-term care facilities, according to a study by Dr. Dawn Terashita, an epidemiologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
- Curbing Infections in American Hospitals Source: FOXBusiness (Thursday March 24, 2011)
Hospitals can eliminate most infections through good infection control.
- Op-ed: UK wrong to downplay loss of nursing honor Source: Kentucky Herald (Monday March 21, 2011)
Dr. Kevin Kavanagh writes an op-ed on nursing care and public reporting of hospital infections.
- Hospital-Acquired Infections: A First-hand Account Source: The California Report KQED (Thursday March 17, 2011)
David Meyer, a former contractor who lives in the Sacramento area, found himself in the hospital after a motorcycle accident five years ago. His surgery wouldn’t heal for nearly a year – the result of an undiagnosed infection.
- Medical Harm: What's a consumer to do?
Interviews with a consumer advocate (Betsy Imholz) and a journalist (William Heisel) about their work to make medical harm information more transparent, and what consumers can do to inform themselves.
- Preventing Hospital-Acquired Infections: Patients Must Be "Safety Partners" Source: Better Health (Wednesday March 9, 2011)
Guest post by Dr. Julia Hallisy on hospital-acquired infections and patient tips for avoiding infections.
- Hospital infection rate down since 2006 Source: Pittsburgh Business Times (Friday February 25, 2011)
People who picked up an infection during a hospital stay in Pennsylvania in 2009 were more than five times as likely to die than those who did not, according to a new report.
- Hospital-acquired germs cause thousands of re-admissions Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Friday February 25, 2011)
Hospital-acquired germs may have contributed to several thousand rehospitalizations in Pennsylvania, according to a health care review agency.
- Hospital infections still a problem in Pennsylvania Source: The Times-Tribune (Friday February 25, 2011)
Health care-associated infections across the state dropped 12.5 percent from 2008 to 2009.
- Hospital infection tied to readmission Source: phillyBurbs.com (Friday February 25, 2011)
Pennsylvanians who developed an infection during a hospital stay were nearly five times more likely to be readmitted than healthy patients, and the highest readmission rates were among older patients and ones who had surgery, a new report released today says.
- Infections increase chance of hospital re-admission, PHC4 report says Source: Philadelphia Business Journal (Friday February 25, 2011)
Three out of every 10 Pennsylvania patients who acquired a health-care associated infection (HAI) in 2009 were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days for an infection or complication, according to a new report released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
- Infections: A threat to hospitals and patients Source: The Morning Call (Friday February 25, 2011)
Reducing the number of health care-associated infections is not only in patients’ best interest, hospitals’ economic health might also depend on it.
- Pennsylvania shows hospital infections can follow you home Source: PennLive.com (Friday February 25, 2011)
If you’re unlucky enough to catch an infection at the hospital, there’s a good chance the bad luck will follow you home. A new report from a state agency found that 30 percent of people who get an infection during a hospital stay are readmitted within 30 days because of infection or complication.
- Glenwood case led to national recall Source: Glenwood Springs Post Independent (Thursday March 10, 2011)
Local boy who’s battling leukemia contracted bacterial infection from tainted alcohol wipes recalled by the FDA two months later.
- MGH faces suit over drug error that killed woman Source: Boston Globe (Thursday March 10, 2011)
Massachusetts woman dies from drug overdose in the hospital. The hospital staff gave her a large dosage of blood thinner which resulted in internal bleeding and ultimately death.
- Op Ed: Hospital acquired infection is the gorilla in the room Source: Minute Man News Service (Wednesday March 9, 2011)
“I guess America’s present “Wild West” health care system does allow lots of folks to make a handsome profit. But the rest of us are suffering from high health insurance premiums and unacceptably high fatality rates caused by medical errors.”
- HealthGrades study finds patients are 46% less likely to experience error in top-rated hospitals
The study finds there is a significant gap in the probability of experience a patient safety event between hospitals with good patient safety records and those with lower patient safety performance standards.
- Do expensive buildings improve health care? Source: Concord Monitor (Thursday March 3, 2011)
Patient safety advocate Lori Nerbonne argues that the $1billion spent on new hospital buildings in New Hampshire since 2000 has not resulted in better quality care.
- CDC: Infection rates dropping but more work needed Source: Fierce Healthcare (Wednesday March 2, 2011)
Consumers Union stated that public reporting in the states has made it possible to track progress.
- Group says health care attire should stay in hospitals Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Monday February 21, 2011)
Many health care workers are not required to remove their scrubs before leaving work. That attire can carry harmful bacteria such as C.diff, a common bacteria that can cause violent diarrhea.
- 9 Md. hospitals report higher-than-average rates of complications Source: Washington Post (Thursday February 24, 2011)
Patients at one of every five Maryland hospitals suffered higher-than-state-average rates of infections, pneumonia and other complications last year, and most of those medical centers will face a financial penalty as a result, regulators say.
- Video: Donald Berwick on Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: National Journal (Wednesday March 2, 2011)
Safe Patient Project campaign director, Lisa McGiffert, speaks on a National Journal panel discussion on the effect of healthcare-associated infections on the quality and cost of healthcare delivery in the United States featuring Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
- Letter to the editor: Support improved MRSA prevention in Maine hospitals Source: The Portland Press Herald (Sunday February 13, 2011)
Patient safety activist Kathy Day, RN: “L.D. 267 would strengthen the current MRSA mandates, extend it to nursing homes, and require public reporting of all hospital acquired MRSA, regular staph infections, C Difficile and VRE (all are dangerous hospital infections).”
- Safety: Wound Care May Matter More Than Antibiotics Source: New York Times (Friday February 25, 2011)
NY Times on study re treating children with MRSA skin infections
- MRSA, moms and babies Source: Chicago Tribune (Thursday July 23, 2009)
Summary of articles about MRSA in the pregnant population.
- Download event flyerFree Workshop in Denver March 5, 2011: Finding Your Way Through a Safe Healthcare Journey
Free Workshop by Patty Skolnik, Founder and Director, Citizens for Patient Safety. Must RSVP. For more information contact Breanna Sakis (Breanna.Sakis@HealthONEcares.com)
- Released hospital patients' many unhappy returns Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Wednesday February 16, 2011)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/16/MN4K1HCMNU.DTLA new study found that 20 percent of California patients were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days at an annual cost of $250 million. The study blames poor discharge planning but also patient complications, which we know can often be the result of infections and medical errors. The report by the California Discharge Planning Cooperative can be found here.
- MRSA cases on rise throughout state Source: Northwest Herald (Wednesday February 16, 2011)
Cases of MRSA reported by IL hospitals throughout the state are on the rise.
- CDC: Deadly Superbug "C-Diff” Spreading Source: CBS Boston (Tuesday February 8, 2011)
Patient interviewed about her experience with C-diff, an infection she picked up after getting knee replacement surgery.
- Blue Island Teen Dies from Sepsis After Root Canal Source: Sun-Times Media Wire (Friday February 11, 2011)
IL teen dies from sepsis after root canal surgery.
- Why Are Hospitals the Worst Place to Be When You are Sick? Source: Huffington Post (Sunday February 6, 2011)
“I was shocked and deeply disturbed to discover the many ways that our healthcare system dishonors, alienates and harms our loved ones entrusted to it.”
- Bill seeks to reduce MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections Source: Bangor Daily News (Saturday February 5, 2011)
New legislation is pending in Augusta to strengthen recent MRSA tracking, prevention and reporting, not only in Maine hospitals but in nursing homes as well.
- Study Shows Where MRSA Colonizes on the Human Body
A new study from Rhode Island Hospital now sheds light on both the quantity of MRSA at different body sites and the relationship between the quantities at different sites.
- Hospitals actively seeking to reduce infections in facilities Source: The Press-Enterprise (Saturday January 22, 2011)
Hospital infections in California are getting more attention following the release of the state’s first hospital-acquired infection report this year.
- Kentucky bill would require reporting of hospital-acquired infections Source: Kentucky.com (Sunday January 23, 2011)
Kentucky hospitals would be required to report all infections patients acquire during hospital stays under a proposal pending before the state legislature.
- Kentucky voices: State reporting on hospital infections lax, dangerous Source: Kentucky.com (Friday January 21, 2011)
Dr. Kevin Kavanagh: Public reporting is an essential component of controlling health care-acquired infections. Twenty-seven states, but not Kentucky, have laws requiring public reporting.
- Hospital Infections Report: Vague But Useful?
Patient safety activist from Colorado, Kerry O’Connell, who sits on the state’s hospital infection advisory committee, discusses Colorado’s hospital infection report with CPR.
- Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System Source: Wall Street Journal (Tuesday January 18, 2011)
President Obama mentions hospital infections and medical devices in his op ed re cutting red tape.
- A family battles MRSA after losing a child Source: Chicago Tribune (Sunday July 19, 2009)
MRSA in moms and babies
- Receiving care can be painful Source: Recordnet.com (Saturday January 8, 2011)
News coverage of California’s first hospital infection report.
- State health department disavows accuracy of its own report on hospital infections Source: Bakersfield.com (Friday January 7, 2011)
Although California’s first hospital infection report isn’t easy to navigate, going public with these numbers will reduce infection rates because it forces hospitals to create a system that searches for and documents infections.
- Infections halved with private rooms: study Source: CBC News (Monday January 10, 2011)
Patients in intensive care staying in private rooms have half the rate of some hospital-acquired infections as patients in shared rooms, a new Montreal study shows.
- Patients first: Experts look at hospitals that emphasize safety Source: Las Vegas Sun (Monday January 10, 2011)
The panel: Marshall Allen, Las Vegas Sun health care reporter and author of the “Do No Harm” series; Dr. Timothy McDonald, co-executive director of the Institute for Patient Safety Excellence at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago; Dr. Mitchell Forman, president of the Clark County Medical Society; and Sandra Coletta, CEO of Kent Hospital in Warwick, R.I.
- State report on hospital-acquired infections falls short of goal Source: Redlands Daily Facts (Saturday January 8, 2011)
“There is an extraordinary degree of couching on this report,” said Betsy Imholz special projects director for Consumer’s Union in San Francisco. “It is not very consumer friendly,” she said, adding that Consumer’s Union is preparing a full analysis of the report for release at a later date.
- CMS requires hospitals to report bloodstream infections in ICUs Source: American Medical News (Monday January 10, 2011)
Catheter-related infections have been the focus of campaigns for prevention checklists. Data will go public this year.
- State compares hospitals' admissions, death rates Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday January 9, 2011)
SF Chronicle coverage of California’s first hospital infection report.
- 20 California Hospitals that did not report their Hospital Acquired Infection incidents Source: CHCF Center for Health Reporting (Sunday January 2, 2010)
List of California Hospitals that did not report to the state on their Hospital Acquired Infection incidents, January 2009-March 2010
- Simple Steps Prevent Hospital Infections and Save Lives Source: Voice of OC (Tuesday December 21, 2010)
Dr. Peter Pronovost has a simple checklist program that would help CA hospitals save lives and dollars.
- Two OC Hospitals Say They Are Winning War Against Infections Source: Voice of OC (Tuesday December 21, 2010)
Orange County hospitals comment on hospital infections.
- State's first report on hospital infections seen as incomplete Source: Ventura County Star (Monday January 3, 2011)
News coverage of California’s first hospital infection public report.
- Hospitals, senior citizens to see health care changes in new year Source: The Greenville News (Monday January 3, 2011)
The new health care reform law supports hospital infection reporting efforts in South Carolina.
- State Gathering Info on Hospital-Acquired Infections Source: California Healthline (Wednesday January 5, 2011)
Coverage of California’s first hospital infection public report.
- 'You can’t kill my mother and get away with it' Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday December 26, 2010)
Article by Marshall Allen after attending Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project 2010 summit.
- How to put patients first Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday December 26, 2010)
Part 5 in the Las Vegas Sun series Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas.
- Hospitalized kids infected by C. diff a growing problem Source: Fierce Healthcare (Monday January 4, 2010)
C. diff in kids is a growing problem, study finds.
- Sen. Grassley Demands Information on Dialysis Clinic Conditions Source: ProPublica (Wednesday December 22, 2010)
In response to an investigation by ProPublica, U.S. Senator Grassley is demanding answers from federal regulators about the care patients are receiving at U.S. dialysis facilities.
- First state report on hospital infections disappoints Source: The Sacramento Bee (Friday December 31, 2010)
Sacramento Bee story on the first CA hospital infection report, which features quotes from Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project as well as Kimberly Ratcliff, who lost her daughter to numerous hospital acquired infections.
- Hospital infections study a first, but unreliable Source: Associated Press (Thursday December 30, 2010)
The California Department of Public Health has released the state’s first hospital infection public report, but CA needs to work harder to make sure that all hospitals are providing complete and accurate infection data and that this information is presented in a format that the public can understand.
- Holding hospitals accountable: Reporting hospital-acquired infections Source: Sacramento Press (Tuesday December 21, 2010)
Article about hospital infection reporting in California, featuring the stories of patient safety activists, Carole Moss and Kimberly Ratliff, who both lost children from hospital acquired infections.
- California at Last Joins Other Large States in Tracking Infections Source: Voice of OC (Tuesday December 21, 2010)
Schwarzenegger’s signature on Nile’s Law in 2008 made California the last of the largest states to require hospital-by-hospital infection data. The new California reports, to be released Jan. 3, will give consumers information about four kinds of hospital-acquired infections.
- A Mother's Fight Forces Hospitals to Confront Infections Source: Voice of OC (Tuesday December 21, 2010)
“After Carole Moss’s 15-year-old son died of an infection in 2006 in a Children’s Hospital of Orange County facility, she launched a one-woman crusade to force hospitals throughout California to reveal how many of their patients contract serious infections.”
- Why We Still Kill Patients: Invisibility, Inertia, And Income Source: Health Affairs Blog (Monday December 6, 2010)
“What for me struck a particularly jarring note was not just the absence of improvement, but the reluctance of the health care leaders interviewed to speak candidly about why progress has been so slow.”
- New Rules Require Hospitals to Report ICU Infections Source: McClatchy News (Thursday December 9, 2010)
Most U.S. hospitals on Jan. 1 will begin reporting the number of patients who contract bloodstream infections following their treatment in intensive-care units. And the informaiton will be available on a government website in 2011.
- Infection rates fall at Rhode Island ICUs in joint effort Source: Providence Journal (Sunday December 5, 2010)
The Rhode Island ICU Collaborative, recorded significant drops in two types of especially deadly infections in the 23 intensive-care units at the state’s 11 acute-care hospitals. In more than half the units, these infections were eliminated altogether for six consecutive months.
- 'C-Diff' Superbug On The Rise: Last-Ditch Method At Fighting Intestinal Bug Source: Huffington Post (Monday December 13, 2010)
More doctors are performing fecal tranplants on C.diff infected patients when the strongest antibiotics don’t work.
- Getting at the truth behind hospitals' published infection rates Source: Seattle Times (Sunday December 5, 2010)
Washington’s hospital infection reporting law needs a provision to require data validation in order to insure the consumer is getting the best infomation.
- Hospital Care in Las Vegas: Why we suffer Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday November 14, 2010)
Substandard hospital care has roots in a culture of seeking profits, shunning best practices, turning away from problems.
- Study Finds No Progress in Safety at Hospitals Source: New York Times (Wednesday November 24, 2010)
A new study conducted from 2002 to 2007 in 10 North Carolina hospitals, found that harm to patients was common and that the number of incidents did not decrease over time. The most common problems were complications from procedures or drugs and hospital-acquired infections. Click here to view the study.
- MRSA infections (video) Source: TBD.com (Friday November 19, 2010)
Activist Michael Bennett sharing his story in the wake of the Office of Inspector General report on medical errors.
- Superbugs call for super changes in drug-sale rules Source: Boston Globe (Monday November 15, 2010)
Boston Globe editorial on stopping the overuse of antibiotics to help in the fight against resistant infections.
- Hospital Accused Of Putting Patients At Risk To Cut Costs Source: WISN Milwaukee (Thursday November 4, 2010)
Patients in Wisconsin speak out after suffering hospital acquired infections.
- In Dialysis, Life-Saving Care at Great Risk and Cost Source: ProPublica (Tuesday November 9, 2010)
Dangerous dialysis that can harm or infect US kidney patients exposed in a ProPublica’s recent investigation.
- Antibiotics Research Subsidies Weighed by U.S. Source: New York Times (Friday November 5, 2010)
With superbugs getting smarter everyday, the development of new antibiotics is considered by health care stakeholders.
- Hospital Accused Of Putting Patients At Risk To Cut Costs Source: WISN.com (Friday November 5, 2010)
5 Lawsuits Filed Against Columbia St. Mary’s in Milwaukee.
- Elderly Women at Higher Risk for Unnecessary Urinary Catheterization Source: HealthNewsDigest.com (Monday November 1, 2010)
New study in American Journal of Infection Control: Women were 1.9 times more likely than men, and the very elderly (greater than 80 years) were 2.9 times more likely than those 50 years and younger, to have a urinary catheter inappropriately placed.
- Mississippi VA Medical Center Fails to Properly Disinfect Surgical Instruments
A Veterans Affairs (VA) investigation confirmed that improperly cleaned and poorly sanitized instruments were distributed to clinics and operating rooms at a MS VA center.
- Senate Probes Reasons for Adverse Hospital Events Source: California Healthline (Thursday October 21, 2010)
The CA Senate Health committee held a hearing to discuss the California Department of Public Health’s status on implementing hospital infection public reporting and preventing adverse events in California hospitals. Consumers Union has found that the Department has been lagging in these areas leaving patients at risk.
- Solutions to hospital infections are sought Source: Arizona Daily Star (Tuesday October 19, 2010)
AZ state committee doesn’t think you should see AZ hospital infection rates because you won’t understand it.
- Drug-resistant bacterium raises alarms in Chicago Source: Chicago Tribune (Friday October 22, 2010)
Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase bacteria, KPC, has been spreading in Chicago hospitals and nursing homes. These gram-negative bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.
- NDM-1: New Route, Same Destination – Untreatable Infections Source: CDC Safe Healthcare Blog (Friday September 17, 2010)
CDC’s Brandi Limbago, PhD writes about the problem of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections caused by gram-negative bacteria that normally live in our intestines, and motivating healthcare providers to take the recommended steps towards prevention.
- As sepsis turns fatal fast, more aggressive care urged Source: USA Today (Saturday October 9, 2010)
Article about possible ways to combat sepsis, an out-of-control reaction to infection that can start shutting down organs in mere hours.
- Drug-resistant bladder bug raises growing concerns Source: MSNBC (Tuesday October 5, 2010)
A rare but aggressive strain of multi-drug-resistant E. coli bacteria, dubbed E. coli ST131, could be responsible for up to 1 million bladder infections and for more than 3,000 deaths a year from infections that started out in the urinary tract.
- U.S., California probe Prime Healthcare Source: LA Times (Tuesday October 12, 2010)
Investigators are trying to determine whether hospital chain’s reportedly high rate of blood poisoning cases is a health problem or involves fraudulent billing.
- Infection Cases Prompting Fraud Concerns at Calif. Hospital Chain Source: California Healthline (Tuesday October 12, 2010)
HHS and the Department of Justice are investigating whether a surge in infections among hospitals run by California-based Prime Healthcare Services reflects serious health issues or possible Medicare fraud, according to a California Watch analysis, the Los Angeles Times reports.
- Mothers to lead free training on Staying Safe in the Hospital – Join us in San Diego on Saturday Source: MomsRising Blog (Thursday October 7, 2010)
Mothers will lead a patient safety training sponsored by Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project.
- CDC chief picks 6 'winnable battles' in health Source: Associated Press (Saturday October 30, 2010)
The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has picked health care infections as one of six priorities — winnable battles, he calls them.
- Alarming Uptick of Deadly Superbugs in Hospitals Source: CBS (Thursday September 30, 2010)
CBS news coverage of deadly superbugs. Activist Kacia Warren interviewed about her mother, who was infected with acinetobactor in the hospital after surgery and lost her life.
- When the drugs don't work Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Thursday September 30, 2010)
The age of antibiotics could end without a concerted world-wide effort to confront drug resistant bacteria.
- Thousands Die For Want Of A Simple Cure
Article about hospital infections in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area. Activist Michael Bennett quoted about the tragic loss of his father due to hospital-acquired infections.
- Long Island hospital infections decline, mostly Source: WSHU Public Radio (Thursday September 23, 2010)
Link to article about hospital infection rates in Suffolk County/Long Island.
- Iowa: Hospital Associated Infection prevention steering committee sets healthcare- associated infection reduction targets for the new year Source: Iowa Politics.com (Monday September 20, 2010)
“The HAI prevention targets include a 25 percent reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and a 30 percent reduction in Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) related to hospitalization.”
- Man's Antibiotic Use Brings on Debilitating Disease Source: The Ledger (Tuesday September 14, 2010)
Man is wrongly diagnosed and given powerful antibiotics, develops C.diff and still suffering from it two years later.
- HVISA Linked To High Mortality By Henry Ford Hospital Study Source: Medical News Today (Wednesday September 15, 2010)
A MRSA infection with a reduced susceptibility to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin is linked to high mortality, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.
- New drug-resistant superbugs found in 3 states Source: Associated Press (Tuesday September 14, 2010)
The NDM-1 superbug (widespread in India) has sickened people in 3 states, the CDC reports.
- Groups call for mandatory flu shots for health care workers Source: Seattle Times (Monday September 13, 2010)
More professional organizations are calling for mandatory health care worker flu vaccinations.
- Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas
This is the summary of all of the articles the Las Vegas Sun has done on medical harm.
- Open the window on hospital errors Source: Times Union (Wednesday September 8, 2010)
Editorial on NY rates declining in the latest public report: “Simply put, there is every indication that New York’s hospitals are cleaner and safer as a result of this law.”
- Keeping an Eye on Hospital Safety Source: Columbia Journalism Review (Thursday September 2, 2010)
In a state where gamblers can easily access the odds on any video poker machine, Nevada patients have had no way of knowing their odds of being injured in a hospital, the Las Vegas Sun told its readers in part one of a splendid series on hospital safety. The series, by reporters Marshall Allen and Alex Richards, aims to change that.
- Cockroaches could help combat MRSA and E.coli Source: Telegraph (Saturday September 4, 2010)
Cockroaches and locusts contain powerful antibiotic molecules in their brains that could be used to develop new treatments against MRSA and E-coli, scientists have discovered.
- NH patient advocacy group becoming a nonprofit Source: AP (Monday September 6, 2010)
Patient safety advocate Lori Nerbonne and her sister Kelly Grasso have been working to make hospitals safer in New Hampshire and have now officially become and non-profit and launched a website: http://www.nhpatientvoices.org.
- Caifornia healthcare workers' flu vaccination rates lagging Source: VaccineNewsDaily.com (Friday September 3, 2010)
Only 52 percent of California hospital employees have received flu vaccinations, a Consumers Union study shows. And the advocacy group says that is detrimental to the state’s health.
- Report: Only 50 Percent of Hospital Workers Vaccinated Against Flu Source: Capital Public Radio's "KXJZ News (Thursday September 2, 2010)
UC Davis responds to Consumers Union’s report on low flu vaccination rates at California hosppitals.
- Half of hospital workers didn’t get flu shots, Consumers Union finds Source: Healthycal.org (Thursday September 2, 2010)
Consumers Union’s report on low flu vaccination rates among California health care workers is based on inacurrate data according to the head of the CA Department of Public Health who provided the data to Consumers Union.
- Nearly half of healthcare workers in California hospitals did not receive flu shots Source: Los Angeles Times (Thursday September 2, 2010)
LA Times coverage of Consumers Union report on low healthcare worker flu vaccination rates.
- Isolation, an Ancient and Lonely Practice, Endures Source: New York Times (Monday August 30, 2010)
Essay on the human suffering involved with infected patients who have to be isolated for infection control.
- Letter to the Editor: Prevent infections Source: The Courier-Journal (Tuesday August 24, 2010)
Letter to the editor from a woman whose husband died from hospital infection.
- 'Super bug' that's resistant to antibiotics threatens hospital patients Source: Washington Post (Tuesday August 24, 2010)
“A recent study found 25 percent more C. diff than MRSA in 28 community hospitals in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.”
- Experts offer perspective on NDM-1 resistance threat Source: CIDRAP (Friday August 20, 2010)
Three cases of this drug resistant bacteria have been documented in the U.S. Experts say other drug resistant bacteria are more prevelant in the U.S.
- Infection Offensive Source: Memphis Daily News (Monday August 23, 2010)
Public reporting of hospital infections in Tennessee has allowed hospitals and consumers to measure hospitals’ progress over time at preventing infection. Some hospitals are stepping up their efforts to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections.
- WA: Harrison Highest in State for Central Line Infection Rate in 2009 Source: Kitsap Sun (Thursday August 19, 2010)
“Harrison Medical Center in 2009 had the highest central-line infection rate of any of Washington state’s 63 hospitals with intensive-care units. The Bremerton-based hospital also had the fourth-highest rate of pneumonia linked to the use of ventilators among the state’s 37 community hospitals, according to the Washington Department of Health (DOH).”
- Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas
Parts 1 and 2 of an investigative series by the Las Vegas Sun of hospital safety. The articles focus on hospital infections and preventable injuries. They also explain the limited information available to consumers and why the state has failed to provide this information.
- New superbug found in Alberta Source: Okotoks Western Wheel (Thursday August 19, 2010)
A new superbug that is making its way aroung the world has been discovered. “British researchers are being credited with the discovery of new bacteria with the gene allowing it to produce an enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1, or NDM-1.” Two cases have been discovered in Canada.
- NH: State releases first hospital infection report Source: Union Leader (Tuesday August 17, 2010)
The long overdue report is in response to a 2006 state law requiring reporting of central line bloodstream infections. and infections acquired after heart, colon and knee surgeries. A separate report details influenza vaccination rates among hospital staff.
- Antibiotics' efficiency wanes due to global spread of drug-resistant bacteria Source: The Guardian (Wednesday August 11, 2010)
The efficiency of antibiotics is decreasing due to the spread of a bacterial gene conferring high levels of drug resistance.
- Missouri reverses policy that removed older data on hospital infections Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Wednesday August 18, 2010)
The Missouri Department of Health has agreed to change its policy of purging hospital infection data that was over a year old. Now consumers can view hospital infection prevention performance over years rather than just having access to one year worth of performance data.
- Missouri purges data from infection records Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Tuesday August 17, 2010)
Siting costs to keep the old data, the Missouri Health Department is deleting infection data from past years making it impossible to see if a hospitals infection prevention record improves or declines over time.
- Initial N.H. report finds fewer cases of hospital infections
New Hampshire released the first report on health care associated infections. The law was passed in 2006 and results have finally been published.
- Nevada changing law on reporting lethal hospital 'bugs' Source: Las Vegas Sun (Thursday August 12, 2010)
Nevada hospitals will be required to report certain infections but information from individual hospitals will not be available to the public.
- New 'superbug' found in UK hospitals Source: BBC (Wednesday August 11, 2010)
A new superbug that is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics has entered UK hospitals, experts warn.
- Hygiene, cleaning key to halting C. diff infection Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (Sunday July 25, 2010)
Recent research shows that when hospital anti-infection procedures are strictly followed, the rate of C. diff infection dwindles.
- Outbreak blamed for death Source: Winnipeg Free Press (Tuesday June 8, 2010)
Woman at Canadian hospital shares her story about her father dying from a severe blood infection linked to a Serratia marcescens outbreak in the hospital.
- Eaten Alive: 5-Year Battle With Flesh-Eating Germ Source: ABC News (Monday August 9, 2010)
Story about a young mother who acquired a flesh-eating hospital infection while hospitalized for childbirth, and had to endure five years of struggle with countless surgeries, prolonged hospital stays and a broken family.
- A breakthrough in medical transparency Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday June 27, 2010)
As part of a two-year investigation, Sun reporters have uncovered some of the dangers patients have unknowingly encountered as they enter delivery rooms, surgical suites and intensive care units, including thousands of cases of injury, death and deadly infection associated with stays in Las Vegas hospitals.
- A hidden epidemic - Part 1 Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday August 8, 2010)
Las Vegas hospital officials say they are doing enough to protect patients from becoming infected with deadly bacteria. But hospitals are failing.
- Hospitals plan to report internal infection cases Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (Tuesday July 27, 2010)
The Nevada State Board of Health is scheduled Aug. 13 to hold a public hearing on regulation changes that would require larger hospitals to report “sentinel events,” including cases of MRSA and clostridium difficile, which are infections some patients catch while staying in hospitals or nursing homes.
- Lethal Superbug a risk to patients Source: Reno Gazette (Tuesday July 27, 2010)
C-diff caused death of Reno, Nevada woman and her sons want answers. Nevada hospitals are not required to report their infection rates.
- Physician, wash thy hands (PDF) Source: Kentucky.com (Sunday July 25, 2010)
Kentucky’s plan to address hospital acquired infections has a missing component not to be ignored: public reporting.
- Screening for Sepsis Could Save Lives, Researchers Say Source: US News and World Report (Tuesday July 20, 2010)
A recent study in the July issue of Archives of Surgery found that surgery patients are more likely to suffer sepsis or septic shock than blood clots or heart attack.
- Study Examines Sepsis and Septic Shock After Surgery Source: Infection Control Today (Monday July 19, 2010)
“Sepsis and septic shock appear to be more common than heart attacks or pulmonary blood clots among patients having general surgery, and the death rate for patients with septic shock is approximately 34 percent within 30 days of operation, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.”
- Study Examines Sepsis and Septic Shock After Surgery
Sepsis and septic shock appear to be more common than heart attacks or pulmonary blood clots among patients having general surgery, and the death rate for patients with septic shock is approximately 34 percent within 30 days of operation, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.
- Preventing hospital infections Source: KVOA.COM; Tucson (Thursday July 15, 2010)
The University of Miami is reinforcing patient care as it gives new medical residents important training before they touch any real patients.
- The Wrong Stuff Source: Slate (Monday June 28, 2010)
Astronaut turned patient safety expert interview on what patient safety advocates can learn from NASA.
- Ill. surgery clinics cited over infection control Source: Chicago Tribune (Wednesday July 14, 2010)
The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act has uncovered numerous instances of lax hygiene and safety standards in Illinois same-day surgery centers, putting patients as risk for contracting infections.
- Hospital infection deaths caused by ignorance and neglect, survey finds Source: Washington Post (Tuesday July 13, 2010)
A new study by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology reveals that many hospital infection control staff think hospital leadership are not doing all they should to reduce hospital acquired infections.
- MRSA infection rates increase tenfold in children Source: American Medical News (Thursday June 3, 2010)
The trend of prescribing clindamycin for children with Staphylococcus aureus may build up resistance to treating the infection, a new study says. That’s why prevention is best.
- Pan-resistant?? The rise of Acinetobacter Source: ScienceBlogs (Thursday June 17, 2010)
The bad news about the gram negative infection Acinetobacter.
- Health care can hurt you Source: Las Vegas Sun (Sunday June 27, 2010)
Sun’s investigation of Nevada hospital data shows 969 incidents of inpatient injuries — some that can be deadly
- Infection Control Lacking at Surgical Centers Source: WebMD (Tuesday June 8, 2010)
A new study shows infection prevention lapses in ambulatory surgical centers, including safe hygiene methods and improper handling of medications and equipment.
- Delaware health: Eliminating hospital infections
Infection rates are dropping in states with reporting requirements.
- Hospitals Fined More than $1M For Failure to Report Adverse Events Source: HealthLeaders Media (Thursday June 3, 2010)
“One-fourth of California’s 450 acute care hospitals have been fined a total of more than $1 million so far—one hospital received five fines totaling more than $130,000—for failing to promptly report adverse events.”
- 100 dead babies at just one hospital Source: Times Live (Monday May 24, 2010)
South African hospital reports that poor infection control contributed to the deaths of more than 100 babies at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.
- Preventing infections: How Portland hospitals compare Source: The Oregonian (Saturday May 8, 2010)
New report shows how well Oregon hospitals are doing at preventing life-threatening infections.
- Oregon Healthcare Aquired Infection Report 2010
- Republic finds thousands of cases of illnesses over 2 years; data is not publicly disclosed Source: Arizona Republic (Sunday May 9, 2010)
27 states have laws requiring public reporting of hospital infections. A committee recently recommended that Arizona not require this disclosure.
- New Florida initiative has better hospital outcomes in mind Source: The Gainsville Sun (Tuesday May 18, 2010)
Florida Surgical Care Initiative, or FSCI, will collect data in four areas where such complications occur most often: infections at the surgical site or in the urinary tract, outcomes in elderly patients and outcomes after colorectal surgery.
- Antibiotic Resistance Called Growing Threat to Human Health Source: Voice of America (Tuesday May 18, 2010)
The World Health Organization calls antibiotic resistance one of the three greatest threats to human health.
- IL: Hospital-Related Infection Study Source: WIFR.com (Tuesday May 18, 2010)
Central line associated infection rates are anylized in Illinois hospitals.
- Tracking hospital infections Source: Chicago Tribune (Tuesday May 18, 2010)
Illinois hospitals show uneven infection prevention numbers. Those hospitals that have incorporated a system of best practices to prevent central line infections (“the checklist’) have successfully reduced their infection rates.
- Growing dangers of infections at hospitals Source: The Buffalo News (Monday May 10, 2010)
Potentially deadly infections persist and the overuse and misuse of antibiotics is making infection treatment more difficult.
- Beaufort Memorial Hospital infection rates decline in 2009 Source: The Beaufort Gazette (Saturday May 8, 2010)
“While Hilton Head staff worked to control infection rates in 2009, Beaufort Memorial Hospital saw its rates decrease or remain at zero in five of six reported procedures.” Read more here.
- Hospital infections: Are the germs winning? Source: Asbury Park Press (Sunday May 9, 2010)
“While there are no figures available for New Jersey, if the numbers were extrapolated on the basis of its population of 8.7 million, infections would have caused the death of about 2,800 patients in the state’s hospitals last year. Another 50,000 patients would have contracted infections, again extrapolating from the estimated 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections nationally.”
- Arizona hospital infection risk revealed Source: Arizona Republic (Thursday May 6, 2010)
An Arizona Republic analysis of hospital discharge data revealed thousands of cases of infection over the past two years. While 27 other states have passed laws requiring public reporting of infection rates, Arizona is not one of them.
- Maine Campaign for Better Care press conference (video) Source: WCSH6.com (May 2010 (Thursday May 6, 2010)
Maine health care advocates held a press conference to make sure health reform is implemented properly, including improving the quality and safety of health care.
- U.S. to hospitals: Clean up your act Source: CNNMoney.com (Thursday April 29, 2010)
The new health care law contains dozens of provisions, including fining hospitals, to reduce medical errors, hospital-borne infections and costly preventable readmissions.
- U.S. to hospitals: Clean up your act Source: CNN (Thursday April 29, 2010)
The article highlights quality and safety provisions in healthcare reform. “The legislation contains dozens of provisions, including fining hospitals, to reduce medical errors, hospital-borne infections and costly preventable readmissions.”
- New Web Site Invites Patients To Report on Adverse Medical Events Source: ModernHealthcare.com (Monday April 26, 2010)
The Empowered Patient Project has created a patient oriented survey on adverse medical events. Aggregate information from the surveys will be posted on their website.
- Certain patient populations more likely to carry MRSA Source: Fierce Healthcare (Monday April 26, 2010)
A new study published in the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology of 2,055 patients found that MRSA was present in the noses of 20 percent of long-term elder care patients, 16 percent of HIV-infected patients, and 14 percent and 15 percent of inpatient and outpatient kidney dialysis patients.
Read more:
- Consumer Reports suggests smart ways to choose a surgeon Source: Washington Post (Tuesday April 27, 2010)
Tips on finding the surgeon and hospital that are best for your situation.
- Patient Advocates Announce Website to Collect Medical Error Stories
- Oped: Cows on Drugs Source: New York Times; 4/17/2010 (Saturday April 17, 2010)
More than 30 years ago, a proposal to eliminate the use of common antibiotics to promote growth was shot down by Congress with the help of agribusiness.
- Report says state fails to monitor hospitals Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Thursday March 18, 2010)
“The California Department of Public Health has consistently failed to enforce new laws designed to reduce medical errors and infections at California hospitals.”
View the report here: http://www.safepatientproject.org/CAPatientSafetyReportFinal_2.pdf
- California is Lagging on Patient Safety Source: California Progress Report (Thursday April 15, 2010)
Guest blog post by our Director Lisa McGiffert on the slow progress of California’s Department of Public Health to implement patient safety laws.
- Two New Health Care Quality Reports Discussed at State House Source: Health Care For All (Thursday April 15, 2010)
Health Care For All hosts event to publicize the release of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health first hospital-specific report about Health-care associated infections (HAIs) and the second report on Serious Reportable Events (SREs).
- Feds report rise in most hospital infections Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog (Wednesday April 14, 2010)
Our Safe Patient Project Campaign Director Lisa McGiffert wrote a guest blog for Consumer Reports Health on a new government report that found a rise in most hospital infections.
- California Department of Public Health (CDPH) hospital administrative penalties 4/13/2010
View California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Hospital Administrative Penalties 4/13/2010
- NYU Docs: MRSA Screening and Decolonization Is Worth the Cost
Program to screen and treat all surgical patients costs $115 per patient compared $60,000 or more per infection.
- Hospital Infection Problem Persists Source: New York Times (Tuesday April 13, 2010)
“Despite a renewed focus on prevention and threats of governmental sanctions, hospitals continue to see increased rates of post-operative bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported.”
- New Mexico hospitals voluntarily disclose infection rates. Should they have to disclose them publicly? Source: The New Mexico Independent (Wednesday April 7, 2010)
27 states already require public reporting of infection rates–what’s the hold up with New Mexico?
- Patient Safety Report Shows Medical Errors Continuing in NJ Hospitals Source: Atlantic Hightland Herarld (Thursday April 1, 2010)
AARP: Older Adults Still the Most Affected by Dangerous Medical Errors
- Reform Promotes Patient Safety By Creating Payment Incentives, Making Mistakes Public Source: Kaiser Health News' Daily Report (Thursday April 1, 2010)
Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project mentioned in Kaiser Health News.
- Billings Gazette Opinion: All Americans will benefit from care delivery reforms Source: Billing Gazette (Sunday April 4, 2010)
Editorial on the patient safety provisions of the health reform bill.
- UK: Hospital checklists for common conditions 'cut deaths' Source: BBC (Thursday April 1, 2010)
Checklists that spell out exactly how to care for patients with common conditions have dramatically reduced hospital deaths, say doctors.
- Health reform can cut errors Source: Times Union (Thursday April 1, 2010)
More reforms are needed to protect patients from preventable medical harm, but the new health reform law creates a solid foundation that will help ensure that the health care we are paying for is safe.
- California patient safety changes slow in coming, despite 13,500 deaths each year Source: Protect Consumer Justice (Thursday March 18, 2010)
What’s taking the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) so long to implement a program to prevent hospital acquired infections? That’s what Consumers Union has been trying to find out since December, but the watchdog group isn’t getting answers.
- Meet the new super bug: C. diff Source: The Intelligencer (Monday March 29, 2010)
“A new Duke University study shows rates of infection from the bacterium C. diff (Clostridium difficile) are overtaking those associated with MRSA infections in community hospitals. ” C-diff is an antibiotic reisistant intestinal bacteria that can become more virulant if a patient is taking anitbiotics to treat other types infections.
- Disclosing Hospital Infection Rates Source: Kansas Public Radio (Monday March 22, 2010)
This week, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is launching a new state plan to control healthcare-acquired infections.
- Seattle hospital a safe haven Source: Hearst Newspapers (Monday March 22, 2010)
Hearst Newspapers (March 22, 2010)
- N.Y. hospitals on the "watch list" Source: Hearst Newspapers (Monday March 22, 2010)
Safety problems at Albany Medical Center Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital landed the two Capital Region facilities on the Hearst Newspapers investigation’s “watch list.”
- Transparency and the health-care reform bill Source: Washington Post (Sunday March 21, 2010)
Merrill Goozner points out another little-noticed provision in the bill: “Drug and device companies will soon have to report payments to physicians in a national database, thanks to a little noted section of the health care reform bill called the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.”
- Hospital safety info shielded from public Source: Seattle Pi (Monday March 22, 2010)
Americans have more information about the safety of their cars than about the hospitals that treat them at their most vulnerable moments.
- Warning on Hospital Infection Source: AP (Saturday March 20, 2010)
A study of 28 hospitals in the Southeast found that Clostridium difficile infections are outnumbering MRSA infections.
- The Worst Time for a Hospital Visit Source: NYT Health blog (Thursday March 18, 2010)
According to a study published this month in the journal Medical Care hospital occupancy, weekend admissions, nurse staffing and the seasonal flu are major factors that increase the risk of dying in a hospital.
- Video: The Faces of Medical Errors...From Tears to Transparency
The following films from Transparent Learning are the first in a series of educational stories that feature patient safety advocates including Helen Haskell, Rosemary Gibson and Dr. Lucian Leape.
- Consumer group: state lags in enforcement of laws on hospital infections, errors Source: HealthyCal.org (Wednesday March 17, 2010)
Consumers Union’s has been reviewing hospital infection and medical error laws passed in recent years to determine if the state has begun implementing and enforcing these laws and concluded that California has not done it’s job. The state estmates 240,000 Californians a year get a hospital infection and 13,500 die.
- Transparency and Public Reporting Are Essential for a Safe Health Care System Source: Commonwealth Prespectives on Health Reform Brief (Wednesday March 17, 2010)
Leading patient safey advocate Dr. Lucian Leape released report. He makes a strong statement on public reporting: “Transparency is an idea whose time has come and both hospitals and the public will be better off because of it.” His statement and report are online now.
- New Resource for Those Dissatisfied with a Health Care Experience Source: A Healthy Blog (Thursday March 11, 2010)
Health Care For All has created an informative website, www.assertivepatient.org, to assist patients on how to navigate the complaint process when something goes wrong at the hospital.
- Doctor Leads Quest for Safer Ways to Care for Patients Source: New York Times (Monday March 8, 2010)
Interview with Dr. Peter Pronovost, medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and promoter of a patient safety checklist for doctors.
- Taking care with treatment Source: Boston Globe (Monday March 8, 2010)
Author Rosemary Gibson says when medical care is overused, it can cost patients their health and their savings. To attend Rosemary’s March 9th talk at Health Care for All, 30 Winter St., e-mail Deb Wachenheim: dwachenheim@hcfama.org.
- Rising Threat of Infections Unfazed by Antibiotics Source: New York Times (Friday February 26, 2010)
Infections caused by gram-negative bacteria becoming impossible to treat.
- Hospital panel should focus on quality of care Source: Concord Monitor (Saturday February 27, 2010)
Preventing harm will save money
- Hospital recycling on increase Source: The Baltimore Sun (Thursday February 25, 2010)
Reusing one-time-use tools cuts waste, stirs some concern
- Public deserves a voice on health quality commission Source: Concord Monitor (Thursday February 25, 2010)
If the New Hampshire Hospital Association has its way, the euphemistically named New Hampshire Health Care Quality Assurance Commission will continue operating without accountability to the public, in closed and secretive sessions and with only hospital and human services representation. That’s a dangerous problem for consumers of health care and for patient safety.
- Study: Costly Health Care Not Necessarily Best Source: NPR; WBUR (Thursday February 25, 2010)
For some medical conditions, the cost of care does not directly correlate to the quality of care according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
- Study: Half of Infection Deaths Linked Directly to Hospital Care Source: WSJ Health blog (Tuesday February 23, 2010)
Sepsis and pneumonia, two infections that can often be prevented with tight infection control practices in hospitals, killed 48,000 patients and added $8.1 billion to heath care costs in 2006 alone, according to a study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
- Hospital infection data go unreported Source: Des Moines Register (Sunday February 21, 2010)
The State of Iowa does not require public reporting of hospital infection rates, leaving patients in the dark.
- Reducing Bloodstream Infections Source: White Coat's Call Room (Monday February 22, 2010)
Review of Consumer Reports’ March hospital infection report.
- How a checklist can reduce hospital infections Source: Baltimore Sun (Thursday February 18, 2010)
“Hospitals can reduce medical errors and cut unnecessary hospital-related infections with the use of a checklist.”
- Hospital reviews care of Murtha Source: Tribune Democrat (Wednesday February 17, 2010)
“The Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., confirmed Thursday that it is conducting an inquiry into Rep. John P. Murtha’s gallbladder surgery and his medical care there in late January.”
- Hospital Infection Rates: How Are Wichita Hospitals Doing? Source: Eyewitness 12 Kansas (Thursday February 18, 2010)
“For years, doctors held the belief that these infections were inevitable and they became an accepted risk of hospital care. Now, research has shown the vast majority of these infections are preventable.”
- Greenville-area-hospitals-cut-infection-rates Source: The Greenville News (Thursday February 11, 2010)
Advocates say most cases preventable; state legislation in committee
- Navy opens review of care Murtha received in surgery Source: CNN (Wednesday February 17, 2010)
The National Naval Medical Center has opened a review of the surgical care provided to the late Congressman John Murtha after the Pennsylvania Democrat died following surgery, a senior U.S. military official told CNN Wednesday.
- More women dying from pregnancy complications; state holds on to report Source: California Watch (Tuesday February 2, 2010)
More California women dying from pregnancy complications; state holds on to report
- CDC: Healthcare-Associated Infections: Recovery Act
Map of what each state is doing with federal money for health care acquired infectin prevention.
- Infection rates improving inside America's hospitals Source: Wink News Florida (Tuesday February 16, 2010)
Consumer Reports recently reviewed hospitals around the country and found some medical centers are still slipping.
- MI: Fighting Hospital Infections Source: Action News 7; Detroit, MI (Tuesday February 16, 2010)
When patients enter intensive care units central lines are vital to life. These long, flexible catheters deliver essential medications, nutrition and fluids. But they can just as quickly deliver deadly bacteria into your bloodstream. Consumer Reports researched central line blood stream infection data on 926 hospitals in 43 states including Michigan.
- Bronx hospitals clean up their act to lower infection rates in ICU
A recent report compiled by Consumers Union comparing infection rates reported by hospitals in 2008 showed that Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx had 44% fewer infections than the national average.
- Editorial: Murtha death raises questions over preventable medical errors Source: Politico.com (Wednesday February 10, 2010)
The death Monday of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) after complications from gallbladder surgery raises questions about whether the lawmaker was among the nearly 100,000 people who die in U.S. hospitals annually due to preventable medical errors.
- Bloodstream infections: How do Bay Area hospitals rate? Source: ABC 7 News (Thursday February 4, 2010)
A new survey out shows a handful of Bay Area hospitals score poorly when it comes to protecting their patients from deadly bloodstream infections.
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Atul Gawande Source: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Wednesday February 3, 2010)
Jon Stewart interviews Atul Gawande on his two-minute hospital checklist and asks him,”What if we called hospital infections terrorists?”
- Study: Two Methodist Health System hospitals have high ICU infection rates Source: Dallas Morning News (Wednesday February 3, 2010)
Dallas-based Methodist Health System had two hospitals with bloodstream infection rates double the national average, according to a Consumer Reports study.
- Hospitals Rated on Post-Surgery Infections Source: CBS News (Wednesday February 3, 2010)
Consumer Reports has made an online system available which gives consumers access to hospital infection rates.
- Mercy Medical Center Merced gets low rating in patient survey results Source: Merced Sun-Star (Wednesday February 3, 2010)
A comparison by Consumer Reports of Mercy with hospitals in Turlock and Modesto shows Mercy lags in all areas, including the average cost of a hospital stay.
- ICU patients at Harlem's North General Hospital 4 times more likely to get deadly infection: report Source: New York Daily News (Tuesday February 2, 2010)
The Consumer Reports Hospital Ratings study, released Tuesday, says North General Hospital’s so-called central line infection rate was 394% worse than the national average – and the worst in the city.
- 'Extraordinary resources' needed to tackle C. diff Source: BBC News (Tuesday February 2, 2010)
At a conference in Scotland, experts warned that containing C-Difficile infections requires vigilance. “In Scotland C. diff has overtaken MRSA as the leading cause of deaths from hospital-acquired infections, and it is rapidly becoming resistant to antibiotic treatment.”
- New report compares Pennsylvania hospital infection rates Source: Erie Times-News (Thursday January 14, 2010)
Pennsylvania hospitals reported more than 13,000 preventable infections in the second half of 2008, according to a report published Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
- New report compares Pennsylvania hospital infection rates Source: GoErie.com (Thursday January 14, 2010)
The 97-page report compared two types of hospital-acquired infections on a hospital-by-hospital basis: catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI).
- Dual Treatment Cuts Dangerous Hospital Infection Source: Business Week (Thursday January 21, 2010)
A new treatment for C-Difficile or Clostridium difficilecould dramatically reduce the recurrence of the infection.
- Insurer Anthem invests in hospital initiative to improve safety, cut costs Source: LA Time (Wednesday January 20, 2010)
California’s largest health insurer is teaming with hospitals and doctors throughout the state to better share ways to improve patient safety and cut costs, leaders of the initiative said Tuesday.
- Prevention and Control of Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Dealing With Reality, Resistance, and Resistance to Reality Source: Clinical Infectious Diseases (Thursday December 10, 2009)
Excerpt: “While the world attempts to control the current pandemic of H1N1 influenza virus infection, the impact of a previous pandemic of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection (ie, widespread endemicity in hospitals) continues virtually unnoticed.”
- Mapping the distribution of MRSA across Europe
By mapping MRSA cases in Europe, researchers were able to determine that MRSA occurs in geopgraphical clusters. They conclude that screening patients for MRSA is an effective strategy for limiting the spread which is mainly through health care networks and not in communities.
- Webinar on MRSA tracking and reporting in the states
Hosted by the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) sponsored this webinar where speakers presented on Tennessee’s infection reporting system and using the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
- Hospitals Required To Start Reporting Mistakes
NH plans to make medical errors and hospital infection information available to the public but does not have a date that they will be available. A very compelling video of medical error victim is also on this page.
- MRSA 'spread by patients moving between hospitals'
MRSA is mainly spread by patients moving between hospitals, Dutch researchers have said.
- MRSA surgical infections exact heavy clinical, financial toll Source: American Medical News (Wednesday January 14, 2009)
Preventing the resistant staph infection could lower readmission and mortality rates and save hospitals thousands in costs associated with caring for readmitted patients.
- 13,000 hospital infections reported in Pennsylvania Source: PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW (Wednesday January 13, 2010)
That’s actually lower than rates of hospital infections in other states.
- Editorial: Preventing and Controlling MRSA Source: Clinical Infectious Diseases (Friday January 15, 2010)
Dr. William Jarvas discusses other countries that have had success with active detection and isolation (ADI) to prevent the spread of MRSA.
- Canadians becoming 'fed up' with hospital infections Source: Metro News-Halifax News (Tuesday January 12, 2010)
“A team of researchers at Queen’s University in Kingston has proven scientifically that shared hospital rooms are a culprit in spreading superbugs. “
- Screening Could Curb Hospital Superbug Source: Rueters (Monday January 11, 2010)
Researchers mapped the spread of MRSA and found it in clusters throughout Europe. They recommend screening of patients who are admitted to more than one hospital in Europe in order to contain its spread.
- Fight hospital-acquired disease Source: Louiville Courier Journal (Tuesday January 12, 2010)
KY physician Kevin Kavenaugh makes a case for keeping the provisions in the health care reform bills that relate to public reporting of hospital acquired conditions and to Medicaid adopting Medicare rules on nonpayment of hospital acquired conditions.
- Sealant protects new mothers from infection Source: King 5 News, Seattle (Sunday January 10, 2010)
Women are very vulnerable to infection before a c-section. A sealant is being used to keep bacteria from moving into the surgery site.
- Ohio unveils Hospital Compare Web site Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Friday January 8, 2010)
The Ohio Hospital Compare site is believed to be the first in the nation to report hospital-specific infection rates caused by antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria and an intestinal bug called clostridium difficile, or c. diff, said Lisa McGiffert of Consumers Union. The state is also the first to publish infections from C-section surgeries.
- Patient safety improving slightly, 10 years after IOM report on errors Source: American Medical News (Monday December 28, 2009)
A December 2008 report by Health Affairs does find “unmistakable progress,” despite setbacks. Critics say mandatory disclosure of medical errors is the key to breakthrough safety improvement.
- Better antiseptic curbs post-surgery infections Source: Associated Press (Wednesday January 6, 2010)
Associated Press (January 6, 2010)
- New Law Aims to Stem Spread of Sometimes Deadly Infection Source: Maine Public Broadcasting Network (Wednesday January 6, 2010)
A new law goes into effect this week requiring that all Maine hospitals screen high-risk patients for a drug-resistant bacterial infection called MRSA-Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The law requires hospitals to screen for MRSA but does not dictate further action, such as isolation, precaution, and treatment if a patient is diagnosed.
- Sepsis killing Canadians at a higher rate than strokes, heart attacks: Report Source: The Province (Friday December 11, 2009)
A condition that can result from hospital-borne infections is killing Canadians at a higher rate than strokes and heart attacks, according to a report released Thursday. Sepsis is the body’s response to severe infection.
- UK: Scientists turn DNA detectives to track spread of hospital superbugs Source: Times Online (Monday January 4, 2010)
Scientist in the UK are going to use DNA as a way to track the origins of superbugs.
- Canadians aim to reduce sepsis deaths Source: UPI (Wednesday December 16, 2009)
Report: Canada has high rate of deaths due to sepsis.
- Health care associated infections in Maine: 2009
This report contains Maine hospital specific rates on Central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates for
intensive care unit (ICU) patients and neonatal (ICU) patients.) It also has process measures on CLABSI and venilator associated pneumonia “prevention bundles.” - Report on health care associated infection data reported to NHSN
This is a report on data collected from 2006-2008.
- One superbug infection costs hospital $60,000: study Source: Reuters (Tuesday December 15, 2009)
Reuters reports on a Duke University study that finds surgical site infections due to MRSA led to a 7-fold increased risk of death, a 35-fold increased risk of hospital readmission, more than 3 weeks of additional hospitalization, and more than $60,000 of additional charges compared to uninfected controls.
- Oklahoma caregivers fight patient wounds Source: NewsOK (Monday December 14, 2009)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate 7 percent of the state’s nursing home residents developed bed sores from 2007 to 2008. During the same time period, the state had the third-highest ranking for pressure ulcers in the country.
- Leapfrog releases 2009 list of best hospitals for patient safety Source: Hearst; Dead By Mistake Blog (Wednesday December 9, 2009)
Leapfrog sites only five of U.S. News’ 21 best hospitals. View Leapfrogs press release on the top hospitals list.
- Report shows rise in drug-resistant MRSA staph infection Source: Dailybreeze.com (Tuesday December 8, 2009)
“The caseload of patients with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA, rose nearly fourfold from 1999 to 2007, according to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.”
- MRSA Infections in California Hospital Patients, 1999 to 2007
The number of MRSA infections increased “more than four-fold, from about 13,000 cases in 1999 to about 52,000 cases in 2007.”
- Infections are biggest killer for intensive care patients Source: Ireland: Herald.ie (Saturday December 5, 2009)
Infection is the biggest single cause of death in hospital intensive care units, according to a new worldwide study.
- Warning: Going to the hospital may be hazardous to your health Source: Los Angeles Times health blog (Wednesday December 2, 2009)
A study published in the December 2nd Journal of the American Medical Assn. by an international group of researchers examined data on 13,796 adult patients from 1,265 hospitals in 75 countries who were unlucky enough to be in an intensive care unit on May 8, 2007. Here’s a summary of what they found: Fifty-one percent of ICU patients had some sort of infection, the longer you’re in the hospital, the more likely you are to become infected. The mortality rate for ICU patients with an infection was 25%, compared with 11% for patients without an infection. Infection rates in North America were slightly below average, at 48%, but the lowest rate was in Africa, at 46%. The highest infection rate was 60%, found in Central and South America.
- Health-reform should tackle hospital infections Source: KaiserHealthNews & The New Republic (Monday November 23, 2009)
Health professionals spend many thousands of hours training to cure disease. But they can learn how to stop the spread of deadly hospital infections in just a few minutes, by learning five steps for putting lines (that is, tubes) into patients’ bodies.
- Jersey City Hospital Bans Neckties to Reduce Spread of Flu Source: My Fox New York (Tuesday November 24, 2009)
The policy was approved by the hospital’s Infection Control Committee, based on research studies that show that multi drug resistant organisms and other harmful bacteria remain on clothing, such as neckties.
- 10 years, 5 Voices, 1 Challenge
To Err Is Human jump-started a movement to improve patient safety. How far have we come? Where do we go from here? Five patient safety “stakeholders” were interviewed for this article, including the Director of Consumers Union Safe Patient Project, Lisa McGiffert.
- Massachusetts’ Hospitals make headway on patient infections Source: Boston Globe (Sunday November 22, 2009)
The article states that these reductions are a result of “pressure from government regulators and patient groups, as well as a shift in doctors’ attitudes, is starting to make medical care safer.”
- Dead by Mistake reporter speaks at Consumers Union paitent safety forum
The forum was called “To Err is Human, to Delay is Deadly” in order to highlight the lack of progress the U.S. health care system has made since the Institute of Medicine’s report “To Err is Human.”
- Dr. Donald Berwick: We Need To Have More Consequences In The Health Care System Source: Kaiser Health News (Thursday November 12, 2009)
Interview with Don Berwick, President of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on the quality of care and patient safety.
- Spies to monitor hand washing in hospitals Source: The Columbus Dispatch (Wednesday November 4, 2009)
Maryland state officials said yesterday that they are creating teams of staff members at hospitals across the state to secretly monitor their colleagues’ hand-washing habits as part of a first-of-its-kind program. The monitors will contribute to a statewide report on hand washing.
- England: C.diff cases may be twice as high as tests miss infection
The number of cases of the hospital bug C.diff could be twice as high as previously thought as current tests used by the NHS are failing to pick up the infection, experts have claimed.
- "Superspreaders" May Trigger Infectious Outbreaks in Hospitals Source: Infection Control Today (Wednesday October 21, 2009)
Healthcare workers (HCWs) who roam from patient to patient in a hospital ward may play a disproportionate role in spreading pathogens.
- Film explores broken health care system Source: Dead By Mistake (Saturday October 31, 2009)
A new documentary film, “Money-Driven Medicine”, tackles the economic underpinnings of an American healthcare system that kills four times as many people through medical error and preventable infections as die in highway accident. Consumers Union has encouraged activists to view this film and take action to make our health care system safer.
- MRSA & Maine Source: WGME-13 (Sunday October 13, 30)
The spread of MRSA, a potentially lethal infection that modern medicine can’t seem to beat. But are Maine’s hospitals doing all they can to fight the problem?
- Money-Driven Medicine Watch-In!
“Money-Driven Medicine” examines the medical industrial complex, and what’s wrong with our healthcare system. Watch the movie for free here until November 10 and sign our petition for reform.
- Hand Washing Rate Low Among Doctors Source: ABC News (Wednesday October 21, 2009)
When you are very sick, you go to the hospital to get better. But what if the hospital you choose actually makes you sicker, or even kills you? Watch patient safety activist and former actress, Alicia Cole, tell her story about getting a serious hospital-acquired infection that changed her life forever.
- Making Hospitals Pay For Own Mistakes Source: CBS Evening News (Tuesday March 18, 2008)
For decades, the U.S. health care system has paid doctors and hospitals by the services performed, even if those services harmed the patient. Beginning in October 2008, Medicare will no longer pay for some major hospital mistakes.
- Florida Hospital Confirms Patients Infected by Reused IV Bags Source: Newsinferno.com (Friday October 16, 2009)
Broward General Medical Center patients received reused IV bags and have tested positive for some infectious diseases.
- Report finds 9,400 serious errors at N.J. hospitals Source: New Jersey Star Ledger (Thursday October 15, 2009)
The New Jersey Health Department has released the 2009 Hospital Performance Report.
- Hand-washing detectors could help save lives Source: MSNBC (Tuesday October 13, 2009)
Technology could potentially slash number of hospital-related infections
- Stimulus Money Will Help Fight Illnesses Source: Eyewitness 3 (Wednesday October 3, 12)
CT receives stimulus funds for hospital infection reduction
- Hospitals Find Way to Make Care Cheaper -- Make It Better (Preview Only) Source: Wall Street Journal (Wednesday October 7, 2009)
The Pennsylvania state agency (Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council) that publishes health care outcomes like infections for more than 50 types of treatments and surgery at hospitals, has shown the state that publishing hospitals can help them improve care, and that good medical treatment is often less expensive than bad care.
- More evidence of MRSA involvement in H1N1 flu Source: Global Post; Sept. 28 (Friday September 28, 12)
“There is an emerging literature on the role of bacterial infections in illness and deaths in this flu, and an emerging consensus that bacterial infections are playing a bigger and more serious role than was thought at first.”
- Memphis Hospital Shares Lifesaving Protocol with Medical Facilities Across the Country Source: HealthNewsDigest (Monday September 28, 2009)
Electronic Medical software has helped detect Sepsis in a patient saving time and lives due to early detection.
- World MRSA Day event Friday at Utah Capitol Source: Salt City Tribune (Monday September 28, 2009)
After nearly losing her husband to a dangerous hospital-acquired staph infection, Mary Petty wants to lift the “veil of secrecy” shrouding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
- California hospitals fined for errors Source: Los Angeles Times (Friday September 25, 2009)
Of 11 facilities cited by the state, about half were penalized for leaving objects in patients after surgery.
- Tie to Pets Has Germ Jumping to and Fro Source: NYT (Monday September 21, 2009)
MRSA is believed to be transferred to pets and then back to humans.
- PA: Hospital report: Mixed ratings
Readmission rates were lower, but some death rates were up
- Australia: Family want answers over hospital death Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (Thursday September 24, 2009)
Woman enters hospital with broken arms and dies of a catheter-related infection.
- Active Screening for MRSA, More Important Than Type of Test Source: Fars News Agency (Wednesday September 23, 2009)
“Detection and eradication of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) represents a public health priority worldwide.”
- East of Eden: Why Health Care Got Hijacked Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caryl-rivers/east-of-eden-why-health-c_b_291303.html Source: The Huffington Post (Friday September 18, 2009)
“The American hospital, the center of health care, is a cottage industry in the post-industrial world, and we can save billions of dollars by bringing them into the modern world.”- Clare Crawford Mason.
- Consumer Reports nurse's survey show cleanliness problem Source: ABC 360.com; KFSN-TV Fresno, CA (Monday September 7, 2009)
Nancy Metcalf, Consumer Reports said: “We surveyed more than 700 nurses nationwide who work in operating rooms, emergency rooms, critical care units and other areas of the hospital.”
- NH hospital infection reporting program funded Source: Concord Monitor (Saturday September 12, 2009)
Federal grant to start program
- ICAAC: Wide MRSA Screening Cuts Disease, Saves $$ Source: Medpage Today (Tuesday September 15, 2009)
the savings associated with preventing MRSA infection amounted to $1.8 million a year according to Lance Peterson, MD, of NorthShore Health System in Evanston, Ill.
- CDC to Distribute $40 Million in Recovery Act Funding to Help States Fight Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: CDC (Tuesday September 1, 2009)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today announced plans to distribute $40 million to state health departments to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
- National Hand Hygiene Campaigns in Europe, 2000-2009 Source: Eurosurveillance, Volume 14, Issue 17, 30 April 2009 (Thursday April 30, 2009)
This report is an overview of the national hand hygiene campaigns, but also regional activities, implemented in Europe since 2000.
- MRSA 'superbug' found in ocean, public beaches Source: USA Today (Saturday September 12, 2009)
A study by researchers at the University of Washington has for the first time identified methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) in marine water and beach sand from seven public beaches on the Puget Sound.
- Hospitals urged to strictly enforce hand-washing Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Friday September 11, 2009)
The Joint Commission announced a new program Thursday that is designed to improve health care safety practices, starting with a rigorous approach toward hand-washing by hospital staffers.
- SC hospital: 15 O.R. staffers treated for staph Source: The Post and Courier (Saturday September 5, 2009)
The affected staff have since returned to work after being treated with antibiotics and testing negative for Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Surgical-site infections in five out of 1,500 patients in July and August prompted the hospital to test 68 operating room staffers for staph, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Shapiro.
- What Mozart can teach us about superbugs Source: KevinMD.com (Sunday September 6, 2009)
What Mozart can teach us about suberbugs and antibiotic resistance
- N.H. health costs merit investigation Source: Concord Monitor (Thursday September 3, 2009)
Lori Nerbonne, co-founder of New Hampshire Patient Voices, writes: “New Hampshire government, consumers and employers could reap a windfall in savings if they formed a collaborative that focused on health care quality and costs in New Hampshire.”
- Op-Ed: The Unintended Consequences of "No Pay for Errors" Source: The Health Care Blog (Tuesday July 21, 2009)
Bob Wachter writes: “I remain enthusiastic about ‘no pay for preventable adverse events’ as a clever way to use payment policy to goose the system into focusing on patient safety prevention practices. But for ‘no pay…’ to make a difference, there must be evidence-based prevention strategies to implement.”
- Viewpoint: Patient Advocate Responds to Infection Control Roundtable Source: Renal Business Today (Wednesday August 26, 2009)
Patient safety advocate Roberta Mikles, RN, challenges dialysis providers to implement best practices to ensure infection prevention.
- Editorial: Healthy hospitals: AnMed, Oconee keep infection to a minimum Source: Independent Mail (Wednesday August 26, 2009)
SC state health department’s survey of infection rates shows scores of hospitals in the state.
- Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) Statistics Source: FDA, as of (Tuesday March 31, 2009)
The Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) contains over four million reports of adverse events and reflects data from 1969 to the present. Data from AERS are presented here as summary statistics. These summary statistics cover data received over the last ten years.
- New Jersey Doctors Getting Paid Extra To Save Hospitals Money Source: AP (Wednesday August 19, 2009)
A dozen New Jersey hospitals are paying doctors as an incentive to save the hospitals money.
- Americans Continue to Die from Preventable Injuries
Despite an authoritative federal report 10 years ago that laid out the scope of the problem and urged the federal and state governments and the medical community to take clear and tangible steps to reduce the number of fatal medical errors, a staggering 98,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors each year and just as many from hospital-acquired infections.
- Dead By Mistake Source: Source: Hearst Newspapers (Friday July 31, 2009)
Dead by mistake was researched and written by a team of journalists from across Hearst newspapers and television stations. Hearst describes medical errors as “a critical and neglected health care issue.” Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project published a report on medical harm, “To Err is Human, To Delay is Deadly” in May 2009.
- Reform should make it easy to get information on quality
When Alicia Cole learned she needed surgery for benign fibroids, she did her homework on the surgeon and the hospital. “I looked at HealthGrades, Leapfrog, Hospital Compare, and other Web sites,” says Cole, a 46-year-old actress from Sherman Oaks, Calif. “But one thing I didn’t check was the hospital’s infection rate.”
- Death by Mistake: Advocates call for mandatory reporting of medical errors Source: San Antonio Express-News (Sunday August 16, 2009)
Consumers Union supports nationwide “MVP” reporting: mandatory, validated (meaning hospital data is audited) and public disclosure at a facility-specific level. Most state reporting systems now divulge only statewide information, which isn’t much help to consumers.
- Editorial: Why so many needless deaths? Source: Albany Times (Tuesday August 11, 2009)
“You can’t say we weren’t warned. And you can’t say we’ve done enough to address those warnings about the degree of avoidable deaths in hospitals in New York and across the country.”
- Washington law lacks both money and teeth Source: Hearst Newspapers (Thursday July 30, 2009)
Six years after the “To Err is Human” report, the Washington state Legislature responded with a law mandating medical error reports. State Rep. Tom Campbell, a bill sponsor, envisioned a day when patients could click on a Web site and compare hospitals’ safety records.
- X-ray Machines Spread Bugs in ICUs Source: MedPage Today (Friday August 7, 2009)
Multidrug-resistant bacteria can be spread in the intensive care unit by portable X-ray machines and their operators, Israeli researchers found.
- Basic Patient Safety Reforms Would Save 85,000 Lives and $35 Billion a Year, Public Citizen Report Says Source: Public Citizen (Thursday August 6, 2009)
The report, “Back to Basics,” analyzed the results of scientific studies of treatment protocols for chronically recurring, avoidable medical errors.
- Report: Most Del. hospitals on par with rest of nation Source: Delaware Online (Thursday July 30, 2009)
A law passed in 2007 requires Delaware hospitals to report healthcare-acquired infections to the federal National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Nineteen other states also require hospitals to report infections.
- Recovery Act to fund 12 state efforts to improve care in ambulatory surgical centers Source: CMS Office of Public Affairs (Thursday July 30, 2009)
Money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will pay $1 million for infection control in ambulatory surgical centers in Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Kansas.
- First, Make No Mistakes Source: The New York Times (Tuesday July 28, 2009)
Op-ed by Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. The Obama administration should take a lesson from the transportation safety board’s successes and establish an independent agency charged with identifying and eliminating the causes of medical error.
- Reps should be commended for fighting for patient rights Source: Nashua Telegraph (Thursday July 23, 2009)
Letter to Editor from Lori Nerbonne thanking lawmakers for passing hospital infection and error reporting legislation.
- Ranking hospitals now done by many organizations, not just U.S. News & World Report Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Monday July 27, 2009)
There’s a movement to make hard numbers the basis for rankings among hospitals, instead of reputation or word-of-mouth.
- Perforated gloves tied to risk for surgical-site infection Source: The Clinical Advisor (Monday July 27, 2009)
Surgical gloves that develop holes or leaks during a procedure appear to increase the risk of infection at the surgical site among patients who are not given antibiotics beforehand, a Swiss study reports.
- Editorial: You should learn the ABCs of HAI and MRSA (PDF) Source: Courier Journal, Louisville, KY (Monday July 27, 2009)
Kentucky paper endorses public reporting and surveillance cultures for MRSA and HAI. “The health care industry has been reluctant to embrace the simple expedient of screening broadly for patients with MRSA; because some hospitals have refused to isolate all patients with MRSA; because too many doctors, nurses and other health professionals don’t follow basic hygiene rules; because state regulation of hospitals is slipshod.
- Experts Support National Public Reporting of Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: APIC (Monday July 20, 2009)
Five organizations representing the nation’s experts in infectious diseases medicine, infection prevention in healthcare settings, and public health and disease prevention announced their support for a provision requiring national reporting of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates, which is contained within the healthcare reform bill introduced by leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Oklahomans' fecal transplant aims to kill colon superbug (C-Difficile) Source: NewsOK (Thursday July 23, 2009)
Some Oklahoma patients are opting for an admittedly gross procedure to kill superbugs living in their colons.
- Hospitals battling dangerous C. diff bacteria Source: The Courier-Journal (Friday July 10, 2009)
While doctors have known about C. diff for decades, recent research shows that rates are up to 20 times higher than previously thought, and more people are getting strains resistant to antibiotics.
- Op-ed: Stop hospital-borne infections Source: The Courier-Journal (Thursday July 9, 2009)
Our state needs to take an active and aggressive policy of mandatory public reporting and tracking of HAI. Kentucky should become a leader in health care, but if Kentucky always waits for the majority of other states to act, we will be relegated to being below average.
- New Ratings for America's Hospitals Now Available on Hospital Compare Website Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Thursday July 9, 2009)
Important new information was added today to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital Compare Web site that reports how frequently patients return to a hospital after being discharged, a possible indicator of how well the facility did the first time around.
- Video: MRSA prevention bill introduced in House Source: KTVU (Wednesday June 24, 2009)
Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-12) held a press conference announcing her bill (HR2937) to screen for and prevent MRSA infections in hospitals.
- Unsung heroes work hard to cut hospital-acquired infections Source: CNN (Thursday July 9, 2009)
CNN (July 9, 2009)
- As health data becomes available, patients can demand better care Source: Dallas Morning News (Tuesday July 7, 2009)
This increased transparency is one of the great hopes among health care reformers for tackling the high cost of American medicine.
- WCA Hospital Reports Few Instances Of Hospial-Related Infections Source: The Post Journal (Sunday July 5, 2009)
According to the report, New York hospitals have lower rates of surgical-site infections than hospitals across the rest of the nation, but the same or higher rates of bloodstream infections in intensive care units than those reported nationally.
- Editorial: Dangerous Care: Hospitals must ensure that infections are minimized Source: Syracuse Post Standard (Monday July 6, 2009)
By one estimate, more than 200 Central New Yorkers die every year from infections they caught while in the hospital.
- Editorial: Germ warfare: State Health Dept. finally tackles hospital-acquired infections Source: New York Daily News (Sunday July 5, 2009)
After too much delay, the agency has put out a report revealing which hospitals in New York are more and which are less likely to discharge you with a nasty bug.
- NY hospitals have lower infection rates Source: Buffalo Business First (Sunday July 5, 2009)
The second annual Hospital-Acquired Infections, New York State 2008 Report presents infection rates identified by hospital name and region for surgical-site infections.
- Editorial: Health Care’s Infectious Losses Source: New York Times (Sunday July 5, 2009)
Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil comments on reducing health care costs: “The president says he likes audacious goals. Here is one: ask medical providers to eliminate all hospital-acquired infections within two years.”
- Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to Record Low, Public Citizen Study Shows
The only economically feasible and, indeed, humane way to improve the system is to reduce the number of senseless and tragic medical errors in our hospitals. In its report, Public Citizen calls on Congress to put safety measures in place that would set the nation on course to meet the IOM’s goal of cutting the number of avoidable deaths in half in five years.
READ the report: http://www.citizen.org/documents/NPDB_Report_200907.pdf
- Health Reform Should Tackle the Rising Threat of Hospital Infections
Infection prevention through known practices provides policymakers a ready solution to the current health system failure that adds a hefty price tag to the nation’s annual health spending.
- Hospital infection numbers go public Source: Times Union (Wednesday July 1, 2009)
With the publication of this report, New York becomes the seventh state in the nation to publicly disclose hospital infection rates by individual hospitals.
- NH: College and Keene Community Show Support for Infection Survivor
Keene State field hockey player Erin Dallas developed a post-surgical infection following an ACL operation last December. Since that time, Dallas has been hospitalized and has had multiple operations.
- Into battle against the superbug Source: The National, Abu Dhabi (Tuesday June 30, 2009)
The UAE offers to help war wounded but must stop infection outbreaks: “High on the list of priorities was identifying and isolating the source of infection; this was done, says the report, by taking wound and nasal swabs from all admitted patients and hand and nasal swabs from all staff who came into contact with them.”
- Touched by tragedy Source: Ocala.com (Thursday June 25, 2009)
Kim Sandstrom, a patient safety activist in Florida, was invited to attend a White House forum with President Obama that was aired Wednesday night on ABC. Kim’s 24-year-old daughter, Diana, died from a medical error in 2004.
- Many hospitals cut back on infection-control efforts Source: American Medical News (Monday June 22, 2009)
Many hospitals cut back on infection-control efforts, which will hurt patients and cost hospitals money.
- Infection concerns spur more checks of medical equipment Source: The Greenville News (Wednesday June 24, 2009)
Spot inspections at three Veterans Administration hospitals last month revealed that instruments used in colonoscopies and endoscopies were not properly disinfected, potentially exposing veterans to HIV and hepatitis.
- Torn Surgical Gloves Put Patients at Risk for Infection Source: Forbes (Tuesday June 16, 2009)
Giving antibiotics before operation might improve safety, study finds
- MD: State links billing rates to hospital performances Source: HometownAnnapolis.com (Tuesday June 16, 2009)
On July 1, the state’s hospitals will receive financial incentives based on the steps taken to prevent complications, including collapsed lungs and infections of the urinary tract and in the blood.
- Hospital Infections High In Sweden At 10 Percent Source: EmaxHealth (Monday June 15, 2009)
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in hospitals impose significant economic consequences on the nation’s healthcare system.
- VA inspections show continued flaws Source: AP (Monday June 15, 2009)
The VA started a nationwide safety campaign at it’s 153 medical centers calling attention to potential infection risks from improperly operating and sterilizing the equipment.
- Editorial: Mandatory reporting makes hospitals safer Source: Concord Monitor (Thursday May 14, 2009)
Lori Nerbonne of New Hampshire Patient Voices writes in support of a bill for funding hospital infection rate reporting and an adverse event reporting bill, which will require hospitals to report serious, completely preventable errors to the state.
- MD hospital fined for not reporting errors Source: Washington Post (Monday June 15, 2009)
The hospital failed to notify the Department of Health that a patient had died and that at least seven others suffered serious harm last year as a result of mistakes by the medical staff.
- Germs and flu are up; infection control is down Source: MSNBC (Tuesday June 9, 2009)
Despite growing pressure to prevent deadly hospital-acquired infections, hospitals are cutting back on protecting patients against them.
- Health Outcomes Driving New Hospital Design Source: New York Times (Monday May 18, 2009)
Single-patient rooms are now viewed as an important element of high-quality health care.
- U.S. Health Care System Fails to Protect Patients From Deadly Medical Errors
Consumers Union Assesses Lack of Progress Ten Years After Institute of Medicine Found Up To 98,000 Die From Preventable Errors
- Report: about 98,000 Americans still die annually from medical errors Source: China View (Friday May 22, 2009)
The Consumers Union report said lawmakers largely have failed to enact patient safety reforms recommended by a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine that found that medical errors cost the U.S. as much as 29 billion U.S. dollars a year.
- What are these? Iowa Hospital Report Cards - Infection Control Source: Iowa Public Television (Thursday March 26, 2009)
Links to hospital safety information in Iowa.
- Preventable Medical Errors Still Kill Thousands, Cost Billions as Employers Foot Bill Source: Workforce Management (Wednesday May 20, 2009)
Despite a landmark report a decade ago detailing the deadly nature of the U.S. health care system, a consumer group finds that little has been done to prevent errors that cost the nation $17 billion to $29 billion and kill as many as 100,000 patients annually.
- Deadly Medical Errors Still Plague U.S.
Report Shows 10-Year Effort to Curb Medical Errors Yields Few Results
- U.S. group sees little progress on medical errors Source: Rueters (Tuesday May 19, 2009)
Despite a decade of promises, little has been done to fix the problem of preventable medical errors that kill nearly 98,000 people in the United States each year, a consumer group said on Tuesday.
- Historic Initiatives for Consumer Information and Patient/Provider Partnerships Approved
The Massachusetts Public Health Council approved regulations to implement major patient safety reforms passed last year, including public reporting of hospital infections and serious medical errors, no-pay policies for certain preventable medical errors, and requiring every hospital in the state to have a Patient and Family Advisory Council and a rapid response system that can be activated by patients and their families.
- Cincinatti story on Hospital Acquired Infections (Video)
Local news coverage of hospital infection stories: Kacia Warren and Nancy Oliver from Ohio.
- CDC sits on documents Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sunday April 26, 2009)
Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have generated about 4,000 pages of documents assessing risks to the agency’s reputation posed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s reporting. But the CDC is not releasing those records to the public.
- CO: Infection data spur changes at hospitals Source: The Denver Post (Tuesday May 12, 2009)
When Colorado passed a law requiring hospitals to publicly reveal their infection rates, lawmakers hoped it would push them to improve surgical hygiene. It seems that it’s working. View report from the CO Department of Public Health and Environment.
- Sebelius challenges hospitals to reduce infections Source: Modern Health Care (Wednesday May 6, 2009)
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.
- Government Reports Criticize Health Care System Source: New York Times (Wednesday May 6, 2009)
Two annual government reports released Wednesday show that progress in improving the quality of health care and narrowing health disparities among ethnic groups remains agonizingly slow, and that patient safety may actually be declining.
- Some Oklahoma hospitals need work, study finds; Infection prevention rated
Some Oklahoma hospitals aren’t doing enough to prevent surgery patients from developing infections, according to a report released by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.
- Preventable hospital errors / No patient should pay Source: Press of Atlantic City (Wednesday May 6, 2009)
Billing patients or their private insurance company for the cost of medical mistakes would change under a bill that’s cleared the state Senate and is now before the Assembly. The bill would prevent hospitals from charging anyone for serious medical errors. The legislation would also require the state to make public individual hospitals’ errors.
- Ventilators Biggest Risk Factor For Pneumonia After Heart Surgery, Study Finds Source: ScienceDaily (Wednesday May 6, 2009)
According to a new European study, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the main cause of nosocomial infection in patients undergoing major heart surgery.
- Alabama Legislature approves bill to require reports on hospital-acquired infections Source: Associated Press (Thursday April 30, 2009)
If signed by the Governor, Alabama will become the 26th state to required hospitals publicly report infection rates.
- Studies show handwashing reduces disease Source: St. Petersburg Times (Wednesday April 29, 2009)
Obama said that handwashing and covering your mouth when you cough can make a huge difference in reducing transmission of the flu. The scientific consensus on handwashing backs him up.
- CA: Report: 14 Inland hospitals miss surgery infection control targets Source: The Press Enterprise (Thursday April 30, 2009)
Almost half of all hospitals in Riverside and San Bernardino counties during a one-year period did not comply with some key medical practices to prevent surgical infections, according to a report by an organization that publishes a popular consumer magazine.
- Report: Nevada hospitals lag in surgical safety Source: Reno Gazette Journal; April 27 (Friday April 27, 12)
A report released Monday by the nonprofit Consumers Union found some Reno-area hospitals last year often failed to follow practices proven to reduce the risk of surgical infection.
- ID: Treasure Valley hospitals ranked on key steps to prevent infections after surgery Source: Idaho Statesman (Monday April 27, 2009)
Idaho hospitals overall fared best on giving patients the right antibiotics after surgery and worst on discontinuing antibiotics 24 hours after surgery to cut down on antibiotic resistance.
- WA: Yakima Regional hospital improves compliance with antibiotic procedure
Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center was one of seven hospitals in the state in “low compliance” last year with a relatively simple procedure designed to prevent surgical infections. Other hospitals in low compliance in the state are Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Island Hospital, Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, Tri-State Memorial Hospital in Clarkston and Enumclaw Regional Hospital Association.
- Surgical infection rates vary widely, report concludes
The eight acute-care hospitals in San Joaquin and Calaveras counties are, if anything, inconsistent when it comes to complying with certain surgical infection prevention practices, according to a new report released Monday by Consumers Union.
- Infection Correction
Hospital-acquired infections can be reduced significantly or even eliminated with sound prevention procedures.
- Contracting out, hand washing won't break deadly chain of infection Source: Canadian Union of Public Employees (Tuesday March 3, 2009)
A new research paper from the Canadian Union of Public Employees says that governments and employers must invest in cleaning and keep services public in order to stop unnecessary suffering and deaths.
- Beth Israel faulted for staph outbreak in mothers, babies Source: Boston Globe (Friday April 10, 2009)
Over the past six months, 18 mothers and 19 newborns have become sick with a dangerous bacterial infection soon after being released from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, triggering a state investigation that uncovered serious problems with the hospital’s infection control practices.
- Legislature passes MRSA-prevention hospital guidelines Source: Nisqually Valley News (Monday April 13, 2009)
The state Senate today concurred unanimously with the House in passing tough new procedures to help prevent the spread of infections acquired in hospitals and other health facilities.
- Lax Needle Use in Clinics Raises Alarm Source: The Wall Street Journal (Wednesday February 4, 2009)
The Safe Injection Practices Education and Awareness Campaign focuses on the dangers of health care workers reusing needles.
- Simple techniques slash hospital infections: meeting
Techniques that have resulted in reduction of superbugs were discussed at a meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America in San Diego on Saturday.
- Big drop in infection rates at NYC public hospitals
The reduction in infection rates have occured since the public hospital system launched an aggressive patient safety agenda to reduce preventable deaths and unnecessary hospital stays. “The decline in infection rates represent more than 1,000 infections prevented and a savings of nearly $16 million in healthcare costs.” said HHC President Alan D. Aviles.
- Bill aims to stop spread of MRSA in hospitals Source: The Olympian (Wednesday March 18, 2009)
Representative Campbell’s legislation is an attempt to force hospitals to track drug-resistant MRSA infections and slow the bacteria’s spread
- NC: Hospital infection rates go unreported to public Source: WRAL.com (Wednesday March 18, 2009)
A bill before the NC legislature would require hospital publicly report infection rates.
- Stethoscopes Infected with Deadly Bacteria Source: Natural News.com (Thursday March 19, 2009)
In the new study led by Dr. Merlin, who’s an assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey (UMDNJ) Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, one in 3 stethoscopes being used by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in a New Jersey hospital’s emergency department tested positive for MRSA.
- University of Pittsburgh Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Thursday March 19, 2009)
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has awarded the university a $4.7 million, four-year grant from the Tobacco Settlement Fund to study the spread and control of hospital-acquired infections
- For some, Roseland infection cases are a call to action Source: CHI-Town Daily News (Wednesday March 4, 2009)
Acinetobactor infected seven people at Roseland Hospital between January 26 and February 19.
- SC: Hospital infections list can be found online
Database compares incidents in S.C. hospitals to national averages
- OH: Willard woman lost dad to C. diff bacteria
About 50 Ohio hospitals have joined a federally supported project to help stop the spread of the potentially deadly intestinal bacteria. The Ohio Hospital Association and The Ohio State University Medical Center announced last week they will lead an effort to standardize tracking of C. diff infections. Participants will test new prevention methods.
- State hospitals upholding a new standard
Hospitals also had their own ways to indicate when staff should don gowns, gloves, goggles and masks before entering the rooms of patients who had to be isolated because of infection or the threat of infection. Now the “isolation precaution” signs all look the same.
- Editorial: Ending a culture of resistance to MRSA screening Source: Seattle Times (Monday February 23, 2009)
“Aggressive screening halts the spread of MRSA. Rather than fighting lawmakers, the Washington State Medical Association ought to encourage its 9,000 physician members to get behind mandatory screening.”
- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Central Line–Associated Bloodstream Infections in US Intensive Care Units, 1997-2007 Source: JAMA (Wednesday February 18, 2009)
Study finds MRSA cases in ICU reduced 50%.
- “Superbug infections decline for procedure Source: Los Angeles Times (Wednesday February 18, 2009)
Bloodstream infections caused by MRSA have dropped 50% in hospital ICUs in the last decade, according to a new study.
- Hospitals release infection-study data Source: Amarillo. com (Thursday February 12, 2009)
Amarillo health officials Wednesday released the findings of a study that details infection rates at three hospitals after the city initially attempted to conceal the information.
- Deadly bacteria defy drugs, alarming doctors Source: Los Angeles Times (Tuesday February 17, 2009)
A new category of bugs becomes more resistant to treatment, and their toll is expected to rise. Patient safety activist Kacia Warren interviewed about her mother’s unexpected death due to a multi-drug resistant strain of bacteria.
- Hospital-acquired infections dip in Pennsylvania Source: Pittsburg Tribune Review (Thursday January 22, 2009)
The rates of four common hospital-acquired infections dropped from 2006 to 2007 at Pennsylvania hospitals, according to the first report to compare annual infection rates.
- Hospitals fight a drug-resistant bug that can kill Source: Chicago Daily Herold (Tuesday January 20, 2009)
The infection rate has recently doubled in both frequency and fatalities, both in Illinois and nationally, to half a million cases annually nationwide, and 300 deaths a day, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
- Surgical checklist can save lives Source: Montreal Gazette (Tuesday January 20, 2009)
Following check list leads to dramatic reductions in hospital infections in Canada.
- Medical community collaborates to cut medication errors and infections Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Tuesday January 20, 2009)
A group of Ohio business leaders and 24 hospitals has launched what it hopes will become a statewide effort to reduce hospital medication errors and infections. Solutions for Patient Safety, as the effort is called, takes place as the state is preparing to publish hospital quality data, including some infection rates, on the Web for consumers.
- To prevent hospital infections, start by insisting health-care workers wash up Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Sunday January 13, 2008)
Includes preventing infections while in the hospital
- Kentucky efforts targeting infections in hospitals Source: Louisville Courier Journal (Friday January 11, 2008)
New bills aim to require MRSA screening and infection reporting
- U.S. government sets infection control goals Source: Reuters UK (Tuesday January 6, 2009)
The Health and Human Services Department released a plan to reduce hospital infections, which kill an estimated 99,000 people a year, affect 1.7 million patients and cost nearly $20 billion.
- Infection control important for high-risk patients Source: AP (Tuesday December 30, 2009)
Infections are the leading cause of preventable death among cancer patients. A report in Lancet Infectious Diseases notes there is no consensus on the best way to protect these patients. In a review of 40 studies, the authors determined that the best way to protect high-risk cancer patients is to combine preventive antibiotics and antifungal treatment with isolation and other methods.
- Editorial: Doctor, Wash Your Hands Source: Bangor Daily News (Monday December 29, 2009)
Most Maine hospitals are taking part in a standardized hand-washing and infection reporting system that soon will begin. The idea is to enable the hospitals to compare their records with one another and share knowledge of what works best.
- California law requires hospitals to come clean on germs Source: Sacramento Bee (Monday December 29, 2009)
Beginning Thursday, legislation will be phased in requiring all 400 hospitals in the state to implement tougher infection control practices to stem outbreaks.
- Your right to learn infection rates at Ohio hospitals survives bid to stop it in legislature Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Friday December 19, 2008)
Ohio Hospital Association tries to stop public reporting of hospital infection rates by amending an unrelated bill at end of session.
- Now that law's passed, Texas needs to make hospital infection rates public Source: Dallas Morning News (Wednesday December 3, 2008)
The reporting system, which was supposed to be in place by June 1, 2008, never came about because the Legislature failed to fund the measure.
- Arkansas to start voluntary hospital infection reporting Source: KUAR Public Radio (Monday December 8, 2008)
No one knows how many hospitals will participate when the program starts up in 2009. At any rate, the information will be pooled so that no individual hospital is identified.
- Halting infection at the door Source: Omaha World Herald (Thursday December 4, 2008)
The veterans hospital in Omaha and its counterparts nationwide are taking the rare step of testing every inpatient for a contagious, drug-resistant bacteria.
- Vigilance stops dangerous hospital-borne infections Source: John Hopkins (Wednesday December 3, 2008)
We know we should do it, but we often don’t wash our hands. While for you and me it may merely mean succumbing to a cold, for health care workers, it can mean spreading bacteria to a patient.
- Editorial- The MRSA mess: a culture of resistance Source: Seattle Times (Monday November 24, 2008)
A sloppy, uneven response by some hospitals has failed to confront the MRSA infection or adequately inform the public.
- Prevention of MRSA stressed at conference Source: Lexington Herald Leader (Saturday November 29, 2008)
A bug called MRSA turned Orvil Hazelton’s routine knee replacement into a nightmare that ended only after surgeons amputated his left leg just above the knee.
- KY Health Care Transparency Conference
The main topics of the conference were healthcare acquired infections, never events and healthcare transparency. Lisa McGiffert (Director of Stop Hospital Infections.org) is a featured speaker.
- Chattanooga: Bacterial infection growing stronger Source: Chattanooga Times (Monday November 24, 2008)
Though c. difficile infections are not tracked nationally or at the state level in Tennessee, Georgia or Alabama, a new study shows that the incidence is higher than expected.
- Q&A: Clostridium difficile Source: BBC (Wednesday November 19, 2008)
Health Protection Agency figures show there were 55,681 cases of C. difficile infection in patients aged 65 years and above in England in 2006 – up 8% on the previous year.
- MRSA: Patients revolt against hospital secrecy Source: Seattle Times (Tuesday November 18, 2008)
MRSA: Consumers have launched a battle against hospital secrecy and demanded aggressive steps to control infections like MRSA. But in Washington state, MRSA rates remain hidden and state initiatives to combat the drug-resistant germ have come up short.
- Case studies: Rigorous testing slows MRSA germ in VA hospitals, Tacoma General Source: Seattle Times (Sunday November 16, 2008)
An aggressive MRSA-screening program at Veterans Affairs medical centers has dramatically reduced infections, VA officials say. Tacoma General Hospital reports a similar success story.
- Readers write in about Clostridium difficile Source: Triage: Chicago Tribune Blog (Sunday November 16, 2008)
Readers share their C-Diff stories on Judith Grahams blog in the Chicago Tribune.
- Culture of resistance: A Seattle Times Investigation Source: Seattle Times (Sunday November 16, 2008)
Part 1: How our hospitals unleashed an epidemic; Part 2: After deadly outbreaks, hospital slow to change; and MRSA resources.
- How our hospitals unleashed a MRSA epidemic Source: Seattle Times (Sunday November 16, 2008)
MRSA, a drug-resistant germ, lurks in Washington hospitals, carried by patients and staff and fueled by inconsistent infection control. This stubborn germ is spreading here at an alarming rate, but no one has tracked these cases ― until now.
- Hospitals Fail to Take Basic Steps to Stop MRSA’s Spread Source: WSJ Health Blog (Sunday November 16, 2008)
MRSA, MRSA everywhere. And here comes the Seattle Times with a series on the spread of the nasty infection that’s resistant to many of the most widely used antibiotics.
- Intestinal Infections on the Rise Source: ABC News (Tuesday November 11, 2008)
Hospitals Struggle to Fight Bacterial Infection Known as C. Difficile
- Hospital curtains carry Clostridium difficile Source: Triage: Chicago Tribune Blog (Friday November 14, 2008)
They’re important reservoirs of the bacteria known as Clostridium difficile (C. diff), which has been in the news this week.
- Conference will address MRSA and 'never events' Source: Lexington Herold Leader (Friday November 14, 2008)
Issues surrounding hospital-acquired infections and other medical events “that should never happen” will highlight a health care conference in Lexington next week.
- C. diff rate in hospitals 20 times greater than previously thought Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Thursday November 13, 2008)
Privacy curtains may spread infections
- Bacteria that attack guts more widespread than believed, study finds Source: Chicago Tribune (Wednesday November 12, 2008)
A nasty germ that wreaks havoc in people’s guts is infecting hospital patients at rates much higher than previously estimated, according to a report released Tuesday.
- Infections With Drug-Resistant Intestinal Bug Accelerating
Deadly, diarrhea-causing germs are making hospital patients sick at an accelerating rate, researchers said today at a conference in Orlando.
- Forget MRSA for a Moment, Clostridium Difficile is a Growing Problem
With all the attention on antibiotic-resistant staph, or MRSA, you may have overlooked Clostridium difficile, the nasty bacterium behind a growing number of hospital-acquired infection.
- Test Drug Does Well Against Hospital Infection
A new antibiotic being developed by a small San Diego company fared well in a clinical trial, holding promise in treating an intestinal superbug that is commonly spread in hospitals and is becoming more deadly.
- Diarrhea bacteria common in hospitals: survey Source: Reuters (Tuesday November 11, 2008)
As many as 13 out of every 1,000 hospital patients are infected with Clostridium difficile, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology reported.
- California Department of Public Health to monitor hospitals for MRSA, other bacterial infections Source: The Press-Enterprise (Sunday October 26, 2008)
Gov. Schwarzenegger last month signed two bills that he said will help control hospital infections and lower health care costs by shortening patient stays and reducing avoidable deaths and illnesses.
- Older donated blood is linked to infection risk, study says Source: LA Times (Wednesday October 29, 2008)
Blood stored for more than 4 weeks tripled the likelihood of infection in the hospital compared with fresher blood, researchers say.
- Burn victims exposed to superbug Source: The Toronto Star (Sunday October 19, 2008)
Patients sent to U.S. due to bed shortages here return with dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria
- Surveillance program leads to plunge in hospital MRSA rates Source: BattleCreekEnquirer (Thursday October 9, 2008)
Kelly Walkinshaw, RN, BSN, has been honored by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC), for her success in reducing MRSA rates among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients at Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan.
- Infection Control Guidelines Issued Source: New York Times (Thursday October 9, 2008)
Hoping to improve infection control in hospitals, the nation’s top epidemiological societies joined Wednesday with the American Hospital Association and the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, to issue a compendium of guidelines for preventing six lethal conditions.
- Push intensifies to cut hospital infection rates Source: Boston Globe (Thursday October 9, 2008)
Healthcare groups yesterday endorsed recommendations in a campaign to intensify hospitals’ efforts to prevent infections that contribute to an estimated 99,000 patient deaths a year in the United States.
- Medicare won't pay for hospital mistakes anymore Source: New Jersey Star Ledger (Wednesday October 1, 2008)
New federal regulations target 11 hospital-acquired conditions that are considered reasonably preventable.
- Schwarzenegger signs bills to combat staph outbreaks in hospitals Source: LA Times (Septeber 26, 2008 (Friday September 26, 2008)
The measures require hospitals to strengthen efforts to prevent the spread of bacteria and to reveal to the public their infection rates. The governor previously vetoed similar legislation.
- NH: Hospitals to begin reporting infection rates Source: Union Leader (Sunday September 14, 2008)
New Hampshire hospitals are expected to start reporting hospital-acquired infections to the state as soon as possible after several news stories revealed they are not abiding by a two-year-old law requiring them to do so.
- Allegheny General takes the life out of infections Source: Pittsburgh Tribune Review (Monday September 1, 2008)
AGH has attacked the bug problem with such diligence that it has virtually wiped out one of the deadliest types — central-line bloodstream infections. About 250,000 such infections occur in hospitals every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Vermont: Officials say patients must be vigilant to control infections Source: VT Public Radio (Monday August 18, 2008)
Hospital officials say doctors and their patients need to be constantly vigilant to prevent infections, especially from those caused by new strains of drug resistant bacteria.
- A push for hospital compliance in NH Source: Union Leader (Sunday August 17, 2008)
Two lawmakers want the commissioner of Health and Human Services to explain why the state isn’t enforcing a law requiring the public reporting of hospital-acquired infection rates.
- Beyond MRSA: The new generation of resistant infections Source: The New Yorker (Monday August 11, 2008)
The new generation of resistant infections is almost impossible to treat.
- SC Hospital infection numbers released Source: Charleston Post & Courier (Wednesday August 6, 2008)
Six more months worth of data cataloging hospital- associated infections in South Carolina was made public Monday.
- Infection rate law mired in sick bay Source: Nashua Telgraph (Friday August 15, 2008)
The state Legislature passed a law in 2006 that called for making public the infection rates at state hospitals. Today, the release of that critical information still appears to be years away.
- NH health-care workers handwashing put at 69% Source: Union Leader (Sunday August 10, 2008)
Although proper hand-washing would go a long way toward eliminating hospital-acquired infections, a statewide survey showed only 69 percent of health care workers did so before and after contact with patients and their environments at hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.
- Infections: Hospitals stay mum Source: NH Union Leader (Sunday August 10, 2008)
Former House member Leo Pepino of Manchester vowed to eliminate hospital-acquired infections in New Hampshire after his wife battled three different cancers over the years, only to be further burdened by infections she picked up while hospitalized.
- Hand Washing: Time Well Spent Source: Washington Post (Tuesday August 5, 2008)
We Need Carrots and Sticks to Reduce Infection Rates.
- Friends to help Manchester family bury young mom Source: NH Union Leader (Tuesday July 29, 2008)
Shortly after being released from the hospital after his birth, Takea Harris developed an infection in the area of her C-section incision. She died a few weeks after giving birth.
- New Study Finds Surgical Errors Cost Nearly $1.5 Billion Annually
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a study that found insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent more) for surgery patients who experienced acute respiratory failure or post-operative infections, respectively, compared with patients who did not experience either error.
- Hospital tries to win back patients Source: Fresno Bee (Friday July 25, 2008)
It has been more than a week since Saint Agnes Medical Center resumed open-heart surgery after patient infection problems caused a shutdown of the program — and business isn’t what it used to be.
- Hospitals, using single-bed rooms and improved ventilation, work to get healthier Source: LA Times (Monday July 28, 2008)
Architects are designing new facilities with stemming the spread of infection in mind.
- Who will pay for errors in your medical care? Source: Greenville Online (Saturday July 26, 2008)
And according to Consumers Union, hospital-related errors and infections kill nearly 200,000 Americans and injure another 2.6 million every year, adding billions to the cost of health care.
- MRSA carriers have persistent infection risk Source: Rueters (Friday July 25, 2008)
People who harbor methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for more than 1 year still have a substantial risk of MRSA-related infection and death, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
- Single rooms may help in preventing infection Source: Canada.com Leader Post (Monday July 21, 2008)
Research suggests that single-bed rooms can reduce infection rates by up to 45 per cent.
- Local Doctor Finding New Ways to Prevent Hospital Infections Source: Fox 11 News- LA (Tuesday July 15, 2008)
One doctor is fighting back using a common-sense plan of attack hopital infections.
- She expected routine surgery -- but not flesh-eating bacteria Source: LA Times (Sunday July 13, 2008)
Two years later, Alicia Cole says she’s still recovering from her experience at Providence Saint Joseph. The hospital says it ranks ‘above average’ in the state for surgical infection prevention.
- No hospitals named in tales of infection
Three years after a law requiring hospitals to report their infection rates to the state passed, the numbers have been released — sort of.
- New York Hospital Infection Rates Rise Source: Emax Health (Wednesday July 9, 2008)
From now on the NY Department of Health aims at releasing similar data every year for each hospital separately.
- Colorado Hospital Acquired Infections Data Now Available Online Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (Monday June 30, 2008)
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment today released the first Health Facility Acquired Infections Bulletin.
- NY Health Department Issues First Hospital Infection Report
View the report: Hospital-Acquired Infection Reporting System – 2007
- CT: State Announces Healthcare Infection Control Education Campaign
Department Public Health Handwashing Campaign Kick-Off (VIDEO)
- MRSA Rates Tied to Hospital Understaffing Source: U.S. News and World Report (Tuesday June 24, 2008)
“The drive toward greater efficiency by reducing the number of hospital beds and increasing patient throughput has led to highly stressed health-care systems with unwelcome side effects,” the researchers wrote.
- Hospital survey finds more targeting resistant bacteria Source: Augusta Chronicle (Wednesday June 18, 2008)
A survey released Tuesday by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology found that 76 percent had increased efforts in the past year to control the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
- Bill requires hospitals to report infections Source: SF Chronicle (Friday May 30, 2008)
California hospitals would be required to step up prevention of drug-resistant infections and, for the first time, report any such cases to health authorities under a bill that passed the state Senate this week.
- PA: C. diff bacteria infection sickens, kills more people Source: The Patriot News (Monday May 26, 2008)
The number of hospital patients with C. diff increased by 200 percent from 2000 to 2005, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a government agency.
- Hospital acquired infections can be deadly Source: KCRA-TV (Monday May 12, 2008)
A Sacramento TV station highlights the dangers of hospital infections and surveys hospitals on whether they will make their infection rates public (see story sidebar for their responses).
- N.H. health providers sign on to infection-prevention program Source: Nashua Telegraph (Tuesday May 13, 2008)
“High Five” is designed to make sure hand hygiene is an integral part of every patient contact in health care facilities.
- Hospital infection data might be made public Source: Columbus Dispatch (Saturday May 10, 2008)
As Nancy Oliver spoke of her father’s stay in an intensive-care unit, and of the infection that eventually killed him, her voice was calm, her delivery direct.
- Kaiser Permanente On Hospital-Acquired Infections Source: KCRA (Sunday May 11, 2008)
Kaiser Permanente answers questions about if and when their facilities will make their infection rates available to the public.
- UC Davis Medical Center On Hospital-Acquired Infections Source: KCRA (Sunday May 11, 2008)
The hospital answers questions about why they don’t currently make their infection rates available to the pulblic.
- Actress Raises Awareness of Hospital Acquired Infections
Actress and now patient safety after contracting Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF), also known as Man-Eating Flesh Disease.
- Panel to weigh whether to have hospitals report infections Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (Tuesday May 6, 2008)
A state panel will consider whether Ohio hospitals should have to publicly report certain infections contracted by patients.
- Hospital infections: Tracking killer that lies in wait Source: Orange County Register (Monday May 5, 2008)
A bill introduced in the California Senate by Sen. Elaine Alquist would require hospitals to publicly report their infection rates.
- A Bad Germ Gets Worse Source: MSNBC (Friday May 2, 2008)
Rising rates of the bacterial infection Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff, are sparking worries about a virulent form of the bug that can cause severe diarrhea – and death.
- Don't let a hospital kill you Source: CNN (Thursday May 1, 2008)
Josh Nahum is one of 99,000 people who die each year because of infections acquired in the hospital.
- State, CDC track link in child flu deaths Source: The Boston Globe (Friday April 25, 2008)
Massachusetts health authorities have linked two recent childhood flu deaths to a germ called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA
- Bay Area hospital collaboration reduces hospital-acquired infections Source: SF Business Times (Monday April 21, 2008)
Approximately 720 infections were likely prevented, saving an estimated 194 lives and nearly $4 million in unnecessary hospital costs.
- CSI Techniques Could Help Battle Against Hospital Infections Source: Digital Journal (Sunday April 27, 2008)
Investigators in the Netherlands have trialed methods used by forensic scientists at crime scenes to highlight infection risks in their hospital.
- The Fight Against Hospital-Acquired Infections
The U.S. Government Accountability Office 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.
- Report Says Feds Should Do More to Stop Hospital Infections Source: U.S. News & World Report (Thursday April 17, 2008)
Ten years ago, Edward Lawton’s life took an unpredictable twist: While hospitalized and recovering from spinal surgery, he acquired several severe infections. Resistant to treatment, they ravaged his body, damaging his bones. Now, he is confined to a wheelchair.
- Editorial: Hospitals Fight MRSA Screening Source: Hartford Courant (Thursday April 17, 2008)
Connecticut hospitals continue to stonewall and fight a sane and sound amendment to Senate Bill 579.
- More federal action needed on hospital infections
Consumers Union calls for bolder federal steps to protect patients from hospital infections. Statement of Lisa McGiffert Director, Consumers Union’s Stop Hospital Infections to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee On Healthcare -Acquired Infections
- Pennsylvania's New Hospital Infection Report Source: US News and World Report (Friday April 11, 2008)
Sunshine not only fights infection—sunshine laws push data out of the shadows into the public arena, where it belongs.
- New PA Report on hospital infection rates Source: The Tribune Democrat (Thursday April 10, 2008)
Area hospitals mixed on infection report
- MRSA rates continue steady climb upward, new Canadian data show Source: The Canadian Press (Wednesday March 26, 2008)
Canadian study: an estimated 2,300 Canadians lost their lives in 2006 to antibiotic resistant Staph bacteria and added $200 million to $250 million to the country’s health-care bill.
- Preventing MRSA: Why I wear a bowtie Source: Consumer Reports on Health (Friday February 15, 2008)
Neckties worn by doctors in hospitals have been implicated as carriers of infection causing bacteria
- Hospital's bloodstream infections down to zero Source: Nurse.com (Monday March 24, 2008)
A bundle of infection control best practices has brought catheter-related bloodstream infections down to zero at a northern California hospital
- Are California hospitals doing enough to stop MRSA? Source: KPIX-TV San Francisco (Thursday March 20, 2008)
The public is kept in the dark about MRSA and other hospital infections
- MRSA bill takes heat at Capitol Source: Columbia Tribune (Sunday March 16, 2008)
HB 1546, would have required testing for MRSA in patients and doctors, isolation of infected patients and public reporting of MRSA hospital infection rates.
- North state patient's recovery stalled by persistent infection Source: Sacramento BEE Unpublishing; moved behind paywall (gf, 03.30.2009 (Saturday March 15, 2008)
“This is preventable,” said Colas, angry and anxious to get back home. “People don’t have to get staph infections.”
- Salem Hospital goes to war with MRSA Source: Statesman Journal, Salem, OR (Tuesday March 18, 2008)
Goal is to reduce overall transmission of the bacteria
- Hospital seeing decline in infectious diseases Source: WFMZ-TV (Friday March 14, 2008)
Pennsylvania hospital infection report has prompted poor performing hospital to improve patient care and reduce infections
- MRSA 'Superbug' Becoming More Resistant Source: MSNBC (Wednesday March 5, 2008)
‘They Can Adapt to Virtually any Pressure That We Expose Them To,’ Doctors Say
- Accountability in mind Source: Concord Monitor (Sunday March 2, 2008)
Sisters watched their mother suffer from infection in hospital
- MRSA: Understand your risk and how to prevent infection
MRSA — or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — has been a problem in hospital and health care settings for years.
- Superbug order creates controversy Source: Sacramento Bee Unpublishing; moved behind paywall (gf, 03.30.2009 (Friday February 15, 2008)
California now requires reporting of serious MRSA cases, but leaves out cases acquired in hospitals
- California hospitals must report serious community acquired MRSA cases Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Friday February 15, 2008)
But new state requirement fails to require reporting of hospital acquired MRSA
- State to launch crackdown on hospital infection rates Source: Boston Globe (Thursday February 14, 2008)
Panel OKs plan for inspections and report cards
- State must track MRSA infections Source: Lexington Herald Leader (Monday February 4, 2008)
Kentucky physician advocates for tracking of MRSA infections.
- Keeping it clean, safe for patients
Nurse credited for new system that prevents bloodstream infections. A Sacramento-area hospital is emerging as a nationwide leader in the push to eliminate deadly infections picked up by unsuspecting hospital patients.
- Hand gels alone may not curb infections Source: Associated Press (Tuesday January 29, 2008)
Nebraska researcher says hand hygiene is still important, but it’s not a panacea
- Bundled hospital practices help prevent infections Source: USA Today (Wednesday January 16, 2008)
Hospitals are attacking potentially fatal infections by marrying a series of proven medical treatments in an approach called a “bundle.”
- Editorial: Beating the staph superbug Source: Los Angeles Times (Monday January 14, 2008)
The MRSA staph infection is a deadly threat. It’s time for a broad-based response
- Hospitals score poorly on preventing urinary tract infections Source: US News & World Report (Wednesday January 9, 2008)
Most don’t even do basic monitoring of catheterized patients, study found
- FDA approves blood test for 'superbug' Source: Greenville News (Thursday January 3, 2008)
Rapid test will enable faster treatment, containment of resistant staph germ
- Hospital Strategies to Prevent UTI Found Wanting Source: MedPage Today (Thursday January 3, 2008)
New survey finds hospitals not doing enough to prevent urinary tract infections.
- California bill will address hospital infection rates and the problem of MRSA Source: LA Times (Thursday December 20, 2007)
Articles highlight the work of activist Carole Moss, whose son, Nile, died of a MRSA infection and nine hospitals that prevented 600 infections using a data-mining program to flag infections early to stop them from being passed to other patients.
- U.S. Healthcare Not Doing Enough to Curb MRSA infections Source: KIII-TV South Texas (Friday December 28, 2007)
Consumers Union Calls on Hospitals to Invest More Resources
- CA: Talks of exterminating the 'super bug' Source: KABC-TV (Thursday December 20, 2007)
Carole Moss of Riverside told a state Senate Committee today the state is ill-prepared for the growing number of cases related to the deadly, often drug-resistant bacteria called MRSA.
- Making hospitals pay for their mistakes Source: New York Times (Wednesday December 19, 2007)
Medicare will limit payments to hospitals for certain avoidable mistakes like catheter-associated urinary tract infections
- UK: MRSA test on new patients reduces infections by 40% Source: UK Times Online (Wednesday December 19, 2007)
A quick test for the drug-resistant bacterium MRSA has helped a London hospital to cut infection rates by almost 40 per cent in a single year.
- Hospitals marshal resources against MRSA Source: USA Today (Sunday December 2, 2007)
A new federal report on MRSA has prompted hospitals to step up their fight against the superbug.
- Legislation calls for testing patients for MRSA Source: Albany Times Union (Thursday November 22, 2007)
New York lawmakers consider MRSA screening.
- Idaho hopes to get handle on potentially deadly staph Source: Idaho Statesman (Thursday November 15, 2007)
Health and Welfare Board considers rule requiring health care facilities to report non-fatal cases of MRSA.
- Gregoire takes on superbug MRSA Source: The Seattle Times (Thursday November 15, 2007)
Gov. Christine Gregoire wants medical laboratories around the state to report cases of invasive MRSA infections and instructed the health department to convene a panel of scientific experts to recommend the best, scientifically sound strategies to monitor and curb antibiotic-resistant organisms.
- Hospitals slow to battle superbug Source: Portland Tribune (Friday November 16, 2007)
Locally, only VA screens for fast-spreading MRSA bacteria.
- Why Aren’t The Feds Fighting MRSA Harder? Source: AP (November, 7, 2007 (Wednesday November 7, 2007)
Hospitals Are Adopting Superbug Screening, But The CDC Hasn’t Ordered Tests
- Top Doc: Staph "The Cockroach Of Bacteria" Source: AP (November, 7, 2007 (Wednesday November 7, 2007)
CDC Head Says MRSA Infections Can Be Avoided With Common Sense Hygiene
- Testing Patients for MRSA Source: CBS Nightly News (November, 7, 2007 (Wednesday November 7, 2007)
Nineteen thousand Americans die every year from MRSA, and most contract the disease in hospitals. Critics say testing for the bacteria should be compulsory.
- Infection data offers partial view of hospitals Source: Columbia Tribune (Sunday November 4, 2007)
Missouri released surgical infection data for all hospitals for the first time in the state’s history.
- How staph became drug-resistant threat Source: Chicago Tribune (Sunday November 4, 2007)
MRSA has transformed itself into a menacing microbe with fewer weaknesses and perhaps more lethal power.
- Three part series on Acinetobacter Baumannii, a bacteria infecting soldiers returning from Iraq.
Exclusive: Insurgents in the Bloodstream: (Part 1),(Part 2), (Part 3)
- Getting a clean bill of health Source: Baltimore Sun (Thursday November 1, 2007)
To avoid infections, be proactive about doctors’ hygiene
- NJ hospitals to report infection rates under new law Source: Associated Press (Wednesday October 31, 2007)
New Jersey becomes the 20th state to require public reporting of hospital infection rates
- 'Superbug' spreading, but statistics about it aren't Source: Houston Chronicle (Tuesday October 30, 2007)
Texas hospitals don’t have to make cases of deadly infection public
- Staph often adds danger, days to patient’s stay Source: Portland Tribune (Friday October 26, 2007)
New law requires hospitals to start reporting infections in 2009
- Putting Superbugs on the Defensive Source: Wall Street Journal (Tuesday October 23, 2007)
Hospitals Begin to Tout Ability to Control Infection; Mining the Available Data
- Deadly superbug is here – why isn’t it tracked? Source: Seattle Times (Thursday October 18, 2007)
Unlike mumps or measles, MRSA cases need not be reported to public-health authorities in this state.
- Drug-Resistant Staph Germ's Toll Is Higher Than Thought Source: Washington Post (Wednesday October 17, 2007)
MRSA is killing more people in the United States each year than the AIDS virus.
- Pressure is on hospitals to stamp out bacterial bugs Source: USA Today (Monday October 15, 2007)
Physicians, safety advocates and government officials are mobilizing to prevent the infections that have stricken an increasing number of hospital patients over the past three decades.
- Deadly mystery disease follows troops home Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday October 7, 2007)
Infections seen in military hospitals in Iraq spread to U.S.
- US Hospitals Report Infections Increasing in Frequency and Cost Source: Science Daily (Wednesday September 26, 2007)
A new review of inpatient data from US hospitals shows that the number of infections caused by a common bacterium increased by over 7 percent each year from 1998 to 2003.
- Getting The Bugs Out Source: Washington Post (Tuesday September 25, 2007)
VA and MD hospitals vary on applying practices used to prevent surgical infections.
- UK Doctors' long-sleeved coats banished to counter MRSA Source: The Guardian (Monday September 17, 2007)
New dress code for all National Health Services UK staff
- Reducing hospital-acquired infections is within our reach Source: Telegram, Worchester, MA (Wednesday September 12, 12)
Commentary on public infection reporting bills currently before the MA legislature and Department of Public Health proposal to train hospitals and patients, and require public reporting of infection rates.
- Report: 87 Percent of U.S. Hospitals Don’t Take Recommended Steps to Prevent Avoidable Infections Source: Infection Control Today (Monday September 10, 2007)
Analysis of 1,256 hospitals that participate in the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, an annual rating system of a hospital’s quality and safety practices. The full report is to be issued on September 18.
- Pitt study calls for changes to national infection control policies Source: Pittsburg Tribune Review (Wednesday August 22, 2007)
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 20-hospital study showed that monitoring institutional water systems can help predict the risk of hospital-acquired Legionella pneumonia, better known as Legionnaires’ disease.
- Hospitals Collaborate To Change Methods To Prevent Infections Source: The New York Sun (Monday August 20, 2007)
The expansion comes as state health officials have started collecting data on infections from hospitals that it plans to publicize next year for the first time in a report card format.
- Medicare Will Not Pay For Hospital Mistakes And Infections, New Rule Source: Medical News Today (Monday August 20, 2007)
CMS said that the new rules will not only improve the quality of care for Medicare benificiaries, but will save millions of taxpayer dollars every year.
- Editorial: Hospital, infect me not Source: Boston Globe (Sunday August 12, 2007)
Patients in hospitals should not end up worse off than when they were admitted because of an infection acquired during treatment.
- Super Germs Source: WLKY-Louiville, KY (Friday August 3, 2007)
Kentucky infection control specialist says hospitals across the US will have to eventually test patients for MRSA when they are admitted.
- Drug-resistant staph on the rise Source: Spokesman-Review (Sunday July 22, 2007)
MRSA infections have increased exponentially in the past decade.
- Pennsylvania aims at staph infections Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (Friday July 20, 2007)
Under a new Pennsylvania law, hospitals will be required to test high risk patients for MRSA.
- Delaware hospital infection data to be made public Source: WBOC-TV (Thursday July 12, 2007)
Hospitals in Delaware can no longer keep certain information about infections secret from the public
- DE Hospital infection data to be made public Source: Newszap Delaware (Wednesday July 11, 2007)
New law HB 47 sponsored by Rep. Hudson, will required hospitals to report their infections to the public.
- Oregon law aims to curb hospital infections Source: Eugene Register Guard (Saturday July 7, 2007)
Oregon is poised to become the latest state to require hospitals to publicly report their infection rates for certain procedures.
- Infection reporting law lacks teeth Source: The Nashua Telgraph (Sunday July 8, 2007)
NH legislators appropriate $1 for hospital infection reporting.
- Health bills take aim at hospital infections Source: Scranton Times Tribune (Wednesday July 4, 2007)
Reducing the patient infection rate is a key goal of Gov. Ed Rendell’s ambitious health care reform agenda.
- New Medicare rules on payment for hospital infections Source: NH Public Radio (Thursday June 28, 2007)
Consumers Union emphasizes patients should not be billed for the infections targeted by Medicare
- High staph infection rates in hospitals stun public health officials Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Monday June 25, 2007)
New study reports lethal drug-resistant bacteria widespread
- Report on MRSA to show superbug is widespread in hospitals Source: Medical.Net (Sunday June 24, 2007)
Report on the results of the first nationwide study on the prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in U.S to be released.
- A New law puts focus on hospital infections Source: La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, WI (Tuesday June 5, 2007)
MN lawmakers approve law requiring public reporting of hospital infections.
- US soldiers in Iraq fighting drug-resistant bacteria
US soldiers in Iraq do not carry the bacteria responsible for difficult-to-treat wound infections found in military hospitals treating soldiers wounded in Iraq, according to an article in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
- Researchers find nurse working conditions linked to increase in hospital infections Source: Columbia University (Thursday May 24, 2007)
Columbia University School of Nursing researchers find nurse working conditions linked to increase in hospital-acquired infections.
Nurse working conditions linked to increase in patient infections.HULIQ.com. - Officials concerned about rise in c. diff infections Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Friday May 11, 2007)
Increasing numbers of hospitalizations have been linked to infections from a spore-forming pathogen known as C. diff.
- More patients suffering infections at hospitals Source: KIRO-TV, Seattle (Thursday May 10, 2007)
Federal studies indicate that hospital infections are getting worse, and more deadly.
- States attack hospital infections
More states move to require hospital infection reporting.
- Hospital infection rates could go online Source: San Antonio Express News (Thursday May 10, 2007)
Texas is getting close to requiring hospitals to disclose infection rates to the public.
- Hospitals tie CEO bonuses to safety Source: Boston Globe (Saturday May 5, 2007)
Push for a reduction in errors, infections
- Two bacteria strains, Two challenges Source: Dallas Morning News (Thursday May 3, 2007)
MRSA is getting a lot of attention nationally because of its increasing prevalence and virulence.
- Information is the new tool in the fight against hospital infections Source: Dallas Morning News (Thursday May 3, 2007)
Texas lawmakers have passed legislation to make patient infection rates public.
- Hospital infections reporting bill close to becoming law Source: Seattle Times (Thursday April 12, 2007)
Washington Senate passes hospital infection reporting bill unanimously.
- Hospital secrecy to end in Ontario Source: Toronto Star (Thursday April 12, 2007)
For the first time, Ontario hospitals will be required to publicly disclose their patient safety records, including infection rates.
- Editorial: Hospital safety: More sunshine Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer (Thursday April 12, 2007)
Washington legislators are within reach of setting up a farsighted program to encourage control of hospital infections.
- Hospital infection information is scarce Source: Casper Star Tribune (Tuesday April 10, 2007)
Hospitals in Wyoming are not required by the state or federal government to make their rates public.
- Infections found in hospitals Source: KVUE-TV (Thursday April 5, 2007)
Texas lawmakers are working to shine the spotlight on hospital infections.
- Texas bill seeks to document hospital infections Source: Austin American Statesman (Thursday April 5, 2007)
The state Senate has passed a bill requiring disclosure of patient infection rates.
- Hospitals, Heal Thyselves Source: Seattle Times (Monday March 19, 2007)
“The state Legislature is right to demand hospitals begin reporting their infection rates, an effort intended to spur corrective measures.”
- Washington state bill aims to cut hospital infection rates Source: KOMO-TV (Thursday March 15, 2007)
Washington state lawmakers are considering a bill to require all medical care facilities to report their infection rates.
- Bid to cut hospital infections gains traction in legislature Source: Seattle Times (Sunday March 4, 2007)
A bill requiring public reporting of hospital infections is expected to pass the Washington House soon.
- Deadly germs take grim toll in hospitals Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram (Sunday March 4, 2007)
Infections lurking in the nation’s hospitals have been a well-kept secret for years because information is not publicly reported. (scroll down for beginning of article)
- Georgia family loses son to hospital-acquired infection Source: Fox Five News, Atlanta, GA (Tuesday February 20, 2007)
Victoria and Armando Nahum created the organization SafeCare Campaign.org to help eradicate hosptial-acquried infections.
- Med school studies hospital infections Source: Baltimore Examiner (Wednesday February 14, 2007)
The CDC has provided funding for the University of Maryland to study the best way of combating antibiotic- resistant staph infections.
- Making hospitals safer Source: CBS Evening News (Tuesday February 6, 2007)
Katie Couric interviews Dr. Donald Berwick about the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s campaign to reduce medical errors, including hospital infections.
- Editorial: Report rates of infections in hospitals Source: The Olympian (Friday February 2, 2007)
The public should know which hospitals have aggressive infection-control programs and which have high infection rates.
- Can Anything Stop the Superbug? Source: The Guardian (Wednesday January 17, 2007)
Drug reisistant infections
- Surgical Secrets Source: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Monday December 25, 2006)
Wyoming hospital infection rates, nowhere to be found.
- VA Hospital Fights Superbug Source: KHOU - Houston (Tuesday December 26, 2006)
Veterans’ hospitals are taking the offensive against MRSA and one in Pittsburgh has seen a 60% reduction in MRSA.
- Studies: Hospitals could do more to avoid infections Source: Washington Post (Tuesday November 21, 2006)
Hospital infections arise mainly from poor hygiene in hospital procedures, not from how sick patients were when they were admitted.
- Hospital infections more likely to lead to deaths Source: PBS News Hour (Monday November 20, 2006)
A new study reveals the roots of this problem, as well as its economic impact on the health care industry.
- Pennsylvania Releases Hospital-Specific Report on Patient Infections Source: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (Tuesday November 14, 2006)
Groundbreaking report discloses the infection rates for each of the state’s 168 hospitals. This first-in-the nation report garnered extensive media coverage in Pennsylvania and across the country.
- Pennsylvania pioneers with hospital infection data Source: Reuters (Wednesday November 15, 2006)
Pennsylvania has become the first state in the nation to divulge hospital infection data for individual hospitals.
- Pennsylvania report examines severity, cost of hospital infections Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Wednesday November 15, 2006)
Pennsylvania officials released a groundbreaking report about the costly, even life-threatening infections that patients acquire in hospitals.
- Pennsylvania reveals hospital infection rates Source: USA Today (Wednesday November 15, 2006)
Pennsylvania became the first state to publicly report the number of patients who contracted an infection while in its 168 hospitals.
- Rates of Hospital Infections in North Carolina Source: WCNC-TV (Monday November 13, 2006)
In this two-part series, WCNC-TV looks at the problem of hospital infections and how consumers are left in the dark about their hospital’s record
- Are you gambling with your health when choosing a hospital? Source: KHOU-TV (Friday November 10, 2006)
A Texas advisory committee is urging the state to require hospitals to report data on patient infections to the public.
- Screening for safety Source: ABC-7 Chicago (Wednesday October 18, 2006)
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare’s three hospitals are screening patients for MRSA to prevent the spread of these antibiotic resistant infections.
- Squash the bug Source: Slate (Tuesday October 24, 2006)
Europe is killing off hospital infections. Why isn’t the U.S. following suit?
- CDC issues new guidelines on hospital infections Source: WebMD (Thursday October 19, 2006)
New guidelines for U.S. health care facilities to control drug-resistant infections are strictly voluntary.
- New threat from an old bug Source: CBS News (Thursday October 12, 2006)
The ongoing epidemic of severe C. diff diarrheal disease — driven by a 20-fold more toxic mutant strain of the bacteria — is fast getting worse.
- ICU rooms help spread resistant infections Source: Forbes (Tuesday October 10, 2006)
Patients in intensive care unit rooms previously occupied by someone with antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be at heightened risk of acquiring these dangerous infections.
- Isolating and screening hospitalized patients reduces spread of community-acquired MRSA
Success programs in the Netherlands point the way for U.S. hospitals.
- Patients can help stop hospital acquired infections Source: WNBC-TV (Thursday September 14, 2006)
Some steps patients can take to avoid infections in the hospital
- Hospital acquired infections may be preventable Source: WNBC-TV (Wednesday September 13, 2006)
A new law in New York will require hospitals to make their infection rates public.
- MRSA infection deadly in Pennsylvania Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Friday August 25, 2006)
A new Pennsylvania report shows that patients infected with MRSA were four times as likely to die and had longer hospital stays than patients who were not infected with the antibiotic-resistant infection.
- VA starts war on bacterial infection Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Friday August 18, 2006)
The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System has begun an effort to help veterans hospitals around the nation eliminate infections from MRSA.
- $21 million grant to fight medical mistakes, hospital infections in South Carolina Source: WLTX-TV (Tuesday August 15, 2006)
A $21 million grant coming to South Carolina aims to improve patient care and prevent unnecessary hospital deaths.
- Pittsburgh VA system leads superbug reduction effort Source: KDKA-TV (Wednesday August 2, 2006)
The Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System is leading a nationwide effort to reduce infections caused by MRSA in hospitals.
- Institute: Shaving, surgery don’t mix Source: Quincy Herald Whig (Sunday July 2, 2006)
If hospitals want to cut the rate of surgical site infections, they should toss out the razors.
- Infection rate cut at 18 New Jersey hospitals Source: The Record (Thursday June 29, 2006)
Eighteen New Jersey hospitals have dramatically reduced rates of infection in intensive care patients as part of a two-year effort.
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- A routine epidural turns deadly Source: NBC Dateline (Sunday June 4, 2006)
Julie and Chris LeMoult were excited parents-to-be. Did a hospital infection turn the happiest day of their lives into a nightmare?
- Doctor tells Senate leaders infection controls save lives, money Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Friday June 2, 2006)
Efforts to prevent hospital-acquired infections at a Pittsburgh hospital have saved both lives and money, a physician told visiting U.S. Senate leaders.
- Sanford signs hospital data bill Source: S.C. Politics Today (Wednesday May 31, 2006)
Hospitals and other surgical facilities will be required to collect data on hospital-acquired infections and state regulators will have to make the information public under a bill signed today by Gov. Mark Sanford.
- Infections contracted in hospitals can kill, but Alaskans can't yet see data and compare facilities Source: Anchorage Daily News (Tuesday May 30, 2006)
How do you choose a hospital? What if you could call up a Web site and compare one hospital against the others based on how many infections have been acquired there? That’s not possible in Alaska. But it could be soon.
- Concern grows over bacterium at hospitals after VA Center outbreak Source: Seattle Times (Monday May 29, 2006)
A small outbreak of infection at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Seattle may have contributed to the death of one patient and added to the complications of three seriously ill patients in the past several weeks.
- Hospital's Dirty Secrets Source: TBO.com News (Wednesday May 17, 2006)
Infection problem in a Florida hospital “higher than expected” on the state infection reporting website.
- Are hospitals more deadly than car wrecks?
It’s estimated that 250 people die every day from infections they picked up in the hospital.
- States push to disclose hospital infection rates Source: National Public Radio (Saturday March 11, 2006)
Listen to the NPR Morning Edition story on how an increasing number of states are passing hospital infection report laws and read an interview with Dr. Rick Shannon of the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh about how hospitals can prevent infections.
- South Carolina hospital data bill advances Source: The State (Friday March 10, 2006)
A House subcommittee has approved a Senate-passed bill requiring hospitals to publicly report data on patient infections
- Alaska moves to study hospital infections Source: Statement by Alaska Senator Gary Stevens (Wednesday May 3, 2006)
Alaska lawmakers have established a task force to develop recommendations for hospitals to disclose infection rates.
- Business case for infection prevention investigated Source: Infection Control Today (Thursday May 4, 2006)
Infection control professionals convene summit to look at how preventing infections is good for hospitals’ bottom line.
- Lawmakers take notice of hospital infections Source: KMBC-TV, Kansas City, MO (Monday May 1, 2006)
Lawmakers are just beginning to take a hard look at the number of people who are getting infections in hospitals and other health-care centers.
- WHO-TV Investigation: Hospital Infections
WHO-TV’s investigative report on hospital infections in response to emails and calls from viewers who have suffered from them.
- Sad tales attest to infection woes Source: Rocky Mountain News (Friday April 21, 2006)
A proposed bill in Colorado would require 200 hospitals in the state to report and make public the rate of hospital-acquired infections.
- Over 250,000 die from potentially preventable medical errors under Medicare Source: Health Sentinel (Monday April 17, 2006)
A new report by HealthGrades concludes that as many as 950 preventable deaths occur each day from medical errors and other patient safety incidents, including hospital infections.
- New Hampshire hospitals could see infection reporting requirement Source: New Hampshire Public Radio (Tuesday April 11, 2006)
New Hampshire is among two dozen states now considering legislation to require hospital infection reporting.
- Maryland bill calls for hospitals to disclose infections Source: Gaithersburg Business Gazette (Friday April 7, 2006)
Maryland hospitals must disclose their rate of patient infections under a bill passed unanimously by both the Senate and House.
- Congressional committee holds hearing on hospital infections Source: KaiserNetwork.org (Thursday March 30, 2006)
House Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee looks at state laws that require hospitals to report infection rates. This story includes a link to an ABC Nightline news segment on hospital infections.
- Editorial: Hospital infections – assume the worst Source: Pittsburgh Tribune Review (Sunday April 2, 2006)
Hospitals claim that a new Pennsylvania report overstates the impact of infections. But the report’s estimates are probably too low instead of too high.
- Are hospitals hazardous to your health? Source: In These Times (Thursday March 16, 2006)
Numerous states are introducing legislation requiring hospitals to track and report infection rates.
- Hospitals fight fessin' up Source: New Haven Independent (Wednesday March 8, 2006)
As many as three people die each day in Connecticut from infections they got in the hospital, according to one estimate.
- New Hampshire hospitals may post infection rates Source: Concorde Monitor (Wednesday March 8, 2006)
The New Hampshire House passed a bill that would make hospitals report statistics about infections that patients contract while being treated.
- Enter at your own risk Source: New York Sun (Thursday February 9, 2006)
Hospital infection kills as many Americans annually as AIDS, breast cancer, and auto accidents combined.
- House panel passes health infection bill in Colorado Source: Denver Business Journal (Monday January 23, 2006)
The Colorado House Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on January 23 which included testimony on HB 1045, the hospital infection reporting bill. The Committee voted 12-1 to move the bill to the Appropriations Committee.
- Stomach Bug Mutates Into Medical Mystery Source: Washington Post (Friday December 30, 2005)
Bacterial infection (Clostridium difficile) striking young, otherwise healthy Americans, appears to be spreading rapidly around the country and causing unusually severe, sometimes fatal illness
- 21 PA hospitals' infection reporting lax Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Friday December 2, 2005)
Pennsylvania has identified 21 hospitals in the state that appear to be under-reporting hospital-acquired infections, but the public is not informed which ones.
- Hospital Acquired Infections Source: KABC-TV, Los Angeles (Tuesday November 29, 2005)
One in 20 people who enter the hospital will end up with infections they didn’t have when they were admitted. Hospitals won’t volunteer their infection rates, but they are facing increasing pressure to do so.
- Hospital group attacks agency Source: Tribune-Review (Thursday November 17, 2005)
An influential group representing Pennsylvania hospitals has launched an unexpected attack against the state agency collecting data about hospital infections, expressing serious concerns about its latest report.
- Florida quality report Source: Florida Health Finder (Wednesday November 9, 2005)
Florida quality report includes first hospital-specific information about infections.
- Hospital Infections Source: Tampa Tribune (Tuesday November 8, 2005)
Tampa WFLA-TV provides an extensive report on the new Florida Hospital Care Compare site that includes infection ratings for every hospital in the state.
- CU discusses public reporting of hospital-acquired infections with 20/20 Source: ABC 20/20 (Monday October 20, 14)
Millions of patients contract an infectious disease while they are being treated in a hospital, but most hospitals do not release detailed data on the problem.
- Coverage of hospital-acquired infections Source: CNBC (Thursday October 13, 2005)
The segment includes an interview with Lisa McGiffert, Consumers Union, and Mark Volavka, the director of the Pennsylvania agency that released the first report on hospital-acquired infections.
- Pittsburg paper calls on state agency to release more information on hospital-acquired infections. Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Monday September 26, 2005)
How many more patients must die before Pennsylvania hospitals come clean about their infection rates?
- Editorial: Watch their hands Source: USA Today (Thursday July 21, 2005)
Hospital infections aren’t new. Yet proven methods that could cut the number of deaths in half aren’t followed. Collecting that infection rate data is a good step to pressure hospitals to improve.
- The hospitals report: An infectious policy Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Monday July 18, 2005)
That Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to publicly report hospital infections certainly is praiseworthy.
- Data show scourge of hospital infections Source: Washington Post (Wednesday July 13, 2005)
Nearly 12,000 Pennsylvanians contracted hospital infections in 2004, costing an additional $2 billion in care and resulting in 1,500 deaths, according to a state report.
- 11,600 patients got infections in Pennsylvania hospitals Source: USA Today (Wednesday July 13, 2005)
Pennsylvania became the first state to issue a report detailing the toll hospital infections take in both lives and dollars.
- MRSA checks before patients go in Source: Guardian (Sunday June 12, 2005)
Some leading hospitals in the UK are screening patients for MRSA before they are admitted in an effort to minimize infection risks.
- Prevention of surgical site infections needs improvement
Despite knowing for years that giving antibiotics prior to surgery reduces the risk of infection, this proven patient safety practice is followed only about half the time.
- Coming Clean Source: The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (Monday June 6, 2005)
Infections that have been nearly eradicated in some other countries are raging through hospitals here in the United States. The major reason? Poor hygiene. In fact, hygiene is so inadequate in most American hospitals that one out of every 20 patients contracts an infection during a hospital stay.
- Health council to prod straggling hospitals on infection data Source: Pittsburg Live (Friday May 6, 2005)
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) will issue a statewide aggregate hospital-acquired infection report based on the first year of data collected from state hospitals. This is the first hospital-acquired infection report ever based on a mandatory reporting law. Also, since data received from most of the hospitals was inadequate, PHC4 will notify hospitals that they must do a better job or face random audits to ensure accuracy of reports.
- Vermont lawmakers consider tracking infections Source: Montpelier Times Argus (Thursday May 5, 2005)
A group of Vermont residents who have suffered from hospital infections told their stories at a recent hearing on legislation that would require public disclosure of infection rates.
- Hospitals try to ward off nasty MRSA bacteria Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Wednesday April 27, 2005)
Hospitals in western Pennsylvania are adopting a set of special procedures aimed at protecting patients from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a difficult to treat and sometimes fatal infection.
- Hospitals quiet on infection rates Source: Flint Journal (Monday April 25, 2005)
Michigan lawmakers are considering a bill to require hospital infection reporting to help patients find out if their local hospital is doing a good job, and spur competition to keep infections down.
- Deadly Hospital Infections Source: CBS Early Show (Monday March 14, 2005)
Lisa McGiffert of Consumers Union and Dr. Don Nielsen of the American Hospital Association discussion on publishing hospital infection rates.
- Maryland May Track Infections Contracted in Hospitals Source: Washington Post (Wednesday February 23, 2005)
Lawmakers in Maryland are considering legislation to require hospitals to disclose their infection rates.
- Pulling the covers off hospital infection rates Source: St. Petersburg, FL Times (Monday February 21, 2005)
Patient advocates ask why it’s taking so long to reveal the data, as required by Florida law.
- Simple Intervention Nearly Eliminates Catheter-related Bloodstream Infections Source: Science Daily (Thursday December 9, 2004)
As many as 28,000 patients die each year in the U.S. because of catheter-related bloodstream infections, but doctors and nurses who implement simple and inexpensive interventions can cut the number of deaths to nearly zero, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.
- Study: Hospital mortalities down, readmissions up Source: Philadelphia Business Journal (Thursday September 29, 2005)
Pennsylvania hospital performance reports include information about hospital-acquired infections.
- Reducing hospital-acquired infections Source: News 8 Austin (Saturday September 25, 2004)
Each year, more than 2 million people will develop a hospital-acquired infection. About 100,000 of them will die from one.
- Time to clean up hospital infections Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Tuesday September 14, 2004)
Legislation that California lawmakers have sent to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his approval is aimed at making hospital-acquired infections far less likely.
- Focus on hospital-acquired infections bill on CA governor's desk Source: San Francisco Chronicle (9/11/04 (Saturday September 11, 4)
Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, wants to give consumers more information about hospital-acquired infection rates and try to prevent the upward of 9,000 deaths a year attributed to these types of infections in California.
- Information key to tackling superbugs Source: BBC News (Tuesday July 13, 2004)
Hospitals in England are finding that the key to curbing antibiotic-resistant infections is collecting detailed data about which wards infections are common in and which particular patients are most affected.
- Missouri could become one of 3 states to make reports available to consumers Source: St. Louis Business Journal (Friday May 28, 2004)
Raymond Wagner Jr., an executive with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, draws on his son’s personal experience to help Missouri legislators pass a bill requiring the reporting of hospital-acquired infection rates to the public. The bill is awaiting Gov. Bob Holden’s signature. (CU’s Lisa McGiffert quoted.)
- Tampa TV station reports on secrecy clouding hospital infections
Tampa’s WFLA-TV reports on the secrecy behind infection rates in Florida hospitals. The three-part series was shot last October, but is particularly relevant now that the Florida Legislature has approved a bill requiring disclosure of infection rates in a more understandable form.
- National TV series on hospital acquired infections
Ivanhoe Broadcast News, a national TV syndicator of health related news, has an excellent 3-part series on hospital infections. The series is being broadcast in approximately 100 stations throughout the month of May 2004. Part 3 of the series, “The Right to Know,” includes an interview with Earl Lui of Consumers Union. Click here to get the text of the entire series.
- Super-Resistant Superbugs Source: 60 Minutes (Sunday May 2, 2004)
Antibiotics have been so overused that a new breed of “superbugs” is now resistant to almost all antibiotics. One of these is MRSA, a staph bacteria, that triggers infections so severe that they can turn deadly in days. It is also a prevalent hospital-acquired infection. 60 Minutes reports.
- Hospitals bank on all-private rooms Source: Associated Press (Monday March 15, 2004)
A growing number of hospitals are offering their patients private rooms. Among the benefits: less risk of a hospital-acquired infection.
- Pennsylvania Hospital Infection Data Will Be Issued to Public Source: Miami Herald (Monday March 15, 2004)
Hospitals in Pennsylvania are on their way to being the first in the nation to issue public reports on a growing health threat: Hospital-acquired infections. (Quotes Ami Gadhia of Consumers Union’s StopHospitalInfections.org campaign).
- Compromise approved on reporting infections Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Friday March 5, 2004)
Board members for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council unanimously approve a compromise that should allow for the collection of at least some data this year on infections acquired in hospitals.
- Hospitals try to slow progress of infections report card plan Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Monday February 9, 2004)
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council has until Feb. 18 to respond to protests by an influential hospital group that is trying to slow down the implementation of a statewide report card on hospital-acquired infections.
- Hospital-acquired infections are a growing concern in Louisville Source: WHAS-TV, Louisville (Friday February 6, 2004)
Walk into any restaurant in Louisville, and a prominent letter on the door tells you what to expect. But when you’re walking in the doors of a hospital, there is no grade, no report, no indication of what you might find inside.
- Pennsylvania: Hospital infection tally still on Source: Daily Courier (Monday January 12, 2004)
Officials at the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council said that they are moving forward with plans to collect infection data from the state’s 200-plus hospitals despite a growing chorus of opposition from the hospital industry.
- EDITORIAL -- Ill-advised secrecy: Open records, competition helped health care under some states' laws Source: Omaha World-Herald (Thursday December 11, 2003)
Voluntary reporting systems to track and improve hospital error and infection rates don’t work well. Only public disclosure and reporting laws passed in some states have been successful. “Americans concerned about their health care should urge their senators to kill the misnamed Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act,” states the editorial.
- Do the right thing: New reports show managers must take responsibility for creating a culture of safety Source: Modern Healthcare (Monday November 24, 2003)
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) says hospital executives must play a larger role in controlling hospital-acquired infections by delegating more authority to front-line infection control managers and committing the necessary money and resources.
- Can we stomach the truth? Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Tuesday November 11, 2003)
Pennsylvanians know more about the infection rate of a Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant in Beaver County than they do about the infection rates of their hospitals. Ay caramba!
- Hospital injuries take a big toll Source: CBS Market Watch (Tuesday October 7, 2003)
At least 32,000 Americans die in the hospital each year as a result of 18 types of medical injuries, according to estimates from the Agency for Healthcare Researcg and Quality, or AHRQ, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association … Lisa McGiffert, campaign director for StopHospitalInfections.org, a project of Consumers Union, called the article “a step in the right direction in educating the public about … the costs associated with medical injuries and hospital infections.”
Research and Reports
- NHSN Validation Guidance and Toolkit; Validation for 2012 Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) in ICUs Source: CDC (Friday March 22, 2013)
CDC validation tool kit for ICU central line-associated bloodstream infections now officially public
- APIC Guide to Preventing Clostridium difficile Infections Source: APIC (Friday March 8, 2013)
APIC guide: features up-to-date research and guidance on the prevention and treatment of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI), and incorporates current regulations. Included are an overview of CDI, strategies for prevention, considerations for specific patient populations, and evolving practices.
- Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients Source: CDC Foundation (Friday March 1, 2013)
CDC info on preventing infections in cancer patients
- The Empowered Patient Decision Support Web app Source: The Empowered Patient Coalition (Friday March 1, 2013)
The Empowered Patient Decision Support web app is a series of ten questions that help identify areas in which patients may need help and support when making health care decisions.
- Empowered Patient Coalition Training Source: The Empowered Patient Coalition (Friday March 1, 2013)
Free online training courses for patients, family members, caregivers, etc
- What to Do if You Have a Concern about Quality in a South Carolina Hospital Source: Informed Patient Institute (Friday March 1, 2013)
This tip sheet explains steps you can take within the hospital to deal with your concerns about quality of care. It tells you how to contact the places that regulate or oversee hospitals.
- What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a South Carolina Nursing Home Source: Informed Patient Institute (Friday March 1, 2013)
This tip sheet explains steps you can take within the nursing home to deal with your concerns about quality of care. It tells you how to contact places that regulate or oversee nursing homes.
- CDC report: 2011 National and State Healthcare-associated Infections Standardized Infection Ratio Report Source: CDC (Monday February 11, 2013)
CDC reported for 2011: A 41 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections since 2008; a 17 percent reduction in surgical site infections since 2008; a 7 percent reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections since 2009
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - February 2013 Source: Health Watch USA (Monday February 11, 2013)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA.
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - January 28, 2013 Source: Health Watch USA (Saturday January 28, 2012)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA.
- NEJM Letter to the Editor Nonpayment for Preventable Infections in U.S. Hospitals Source: New England Journal of Medicine (Thursday January 10, 2013)
Letter by Kevin T. Kavanagh (Health Watch USA) in the NEJM pointing out the reason for the failure of an observed improvement from the policy of non-payment of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in hospitals.
- Patient Safety America Newsletter (January 2013) Source: Patient Safety America (Tuesday January 1, 2013)
John James, Ph.D., Patient Safety America: “This month I address the discriminatory medical care system in this country. Why are the poor left behind when they need competent medical care? Next – why does Medicare keep spending your tax dollars on procedures that are not “necessary and reasonable?” What is behind the 29+ deaths that resulted from injection of the fungal-contaminated medication from a compounding company? The answer might surprise you. On the controversial front, I summarize an article critical of overuse of mammography screening. Why do prescription pain killers kill at least 16,000 Americans per year? How can a medication be dispensed to you when your doctor has ordered it stopped? Be wary of these potentially dangerous practices.”
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - December 20, 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Thursday December 20, 2012)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA.
- NEJM: Preventing Lethal Hospital Outbreaks of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Source: New England Journal of Medicine (Thursday December 6, 2012)
“In the NIH outbreak, molecular epidemiologic investigation provided insights into the spread and increasing antibiotic resistance of klebsiella. But the truth is that we already know how MDROs spread. Reliable adherence to basic infection control practices is the key to interrupting transmission in our hospitals.”
- Hospital-Acquired Infections, NY State, 2011 Source: New York State Department of Health (Saturday September 1, 2012)
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - November 15, 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Sunday November 11, 2012)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA. Health Watch USA 2012 Conference Information Now Online. Over 140 participants were at the 2012 Health Watch USA Conference. Topics included Shared Decision Making, Overutilization, Value Purchasing and Patient Engagement. Presentations now online include: Dr. Leana Wen, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Dr Said Abusalem, and Rosemary Gibson. To view presentations and PowerPoints go to: http://www.healthwatchusa.org/conference2012/index.html
- New Data for Healthcare Acquired Conditions Source: Federal Register (Friday August 31, 2012)
New Data has been posted for 2010 for CMS’s policy of recouping money for Healthcare Acquired Conditions. The data is not much different from the previous year. See Chart F Estimated Net Savings of Current HACs.
- Clostridium difficile Infections: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention Source: AHRQ (Monday December 19, 2011)
AHRQ information aimed at clinicians regarding C.diff infections.
- HCUP Projections: Clostridium Difficile Hospitalizations 2011 to 2012 Source: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (Tuesday July 10, 2012)
This report funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) focuses on the burden to hospitals of one type of healthcare-associated infection – Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).
- CT Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Source: State of Connecticut (Monday September 17, 2012)
Hospitals Listed By Type of ICU July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - October 23, 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Tuesday October 23, 2012)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA.
- Moving Healthcare Quality Forward With Nursing-Sensitive Value-Based Purchasing Source: Journal of Nursing Scholarship (Monday October 15, 2012)
This article discusses the policy of using financial incentives to promote proper nursing care and lower healthcare acquired conditions. Contributing author: Kevin T. Kavanagh, Board Chairman, Health Watch USA, Somerset, KY
- RECALL: Methylprednisolone Acetate Injections Related to Multistate Meningitis Outbreak Source: California Department of Public Health (Monday October 15, 2012)
CDPH received a list of the recalled methylprednisolone acetate lots shipped to California facilities on September 28, 2012, and immediately notified the three local health jurisdictions where the lots had been received, including the names of the four facilities in those jurisdictions that may have administered the recalled medication. The facilities are in the process of notifying affected patients under the oversight of local health departments. No related cases of meningitis have been identified to date in California. Nationally, the illness has only been associated with one of the three lots that were initially recalled, and all of the California facilities that were identified as recipients have already been notified.
- ISMP Medication Safety Alert: Sterile Compounding Tragedy is a Symptom of a Broken System on Many Levels Source: ISMP (Thursday October 18, 2012)
Includes Table of Selected Pharmacy Sterile Compounding Misadventures
- AHRQ: Toolkit for Reduction of Clostridium difficile Infections Through Antimicrobial Stewardship Source: AHRQ (Thursday October 18, 2012)
Clostridium difficile infection (C. difficile) is a serious public health problem that has recently increased in both incidence and severity. Taking steps to reduce C. difficile is a major health and public health imperative. Antimicrobial stewardship targeted to C. difficile reduction shows promise, because increased rates of C. difficile are associated with inappropriate antibiotic use. An antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) is a systematic approach to developing coordinated interventions to reduce overuse and inappropriate selection of antibiotics, and to achieve optimal outcomes for patients in cost-efficient ways. This toolkit assists hospital staff and leadership in developing an effective ASP with the potential to reduce C. difficile.
- Empowered Patient Hospital Guide For Patients and Families Source: The Empowered Patient Coalition (Thursday October 18, 2012)
Free hospital care guide to help patients navigate the health care system and avoid harm.
- Patient Safety America Newsletter (October 2012) Source: Patient Safety America (Sunday September 30, 2012)
1) The first order of business is to mark the passing of Dr. Barbara Starfield, a champion of improving medical care, especially through more emphasis on primary care.
2) Most of us have had a urinary catheter inserted for some reason or other, and it seems that the vast majority of the time infections associated with these are not evident in billing records.
3) Several articles that I review deal with overbilling and over-diagnosis, two pillars of our current medical industry.
4) A troubling article from Archives of Surgery enumerates the dependence many surgeons have on use of alcohol. You might be surprised at the findings.
5) The refusal of Jehovah’s Witness patients to accept blood transfusions after heart surgery offered an opportunity to study the need for such transfusions, with surprising outcomes.
6) Finally, I summarize information suggesting that a lot of money could be saved each year if drug-eluting stents were used with more evidence-based discrimination in patients receiving coronary artery stents. - Frequently Asked Questions For Patients: Multistate Meningitis Outbreak Investigation Source: CDC (Thursday October 11, 2012)
CDC link on advice to patients
- CDC Map of health facilities who received contaminated steroid injections Source: CDC (Monday October 8, 2012)
Healthcare Facilities which Received Three Lots* of Methylprednisolone Acetate (PF) Recalled from New England Compounding Center on September 26, 2012
- IOM report: "Best Care at Lower Cost" Source: Institute of Medicine (Thursday September 6, 2012)
The Institute of Medicine releases a new report “Best Care at Lower Cost,” that identifies three major imperatives for health care system change: the rising complexity of modern health care, unsustainable cost increases, and outcomes below the system’s potential. Issues recommendations to achieve needed transformation.
- The Assertive Patient Source: The Assertive Patient (Monday September 10, 2012)
A Guide to Speaking Up When You Are Dissatisfied With A Health Care Experience by Health Care For All.
- Health Watch USA Newsletter - September 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Saturday September 1, 2012)
Patient safety news collected by Health Watch USA.
- Alaska Launches a Health Care-Associated Infections Prevention Program Source: State of Alaska Epidemiology (Monday January 25, 2010)
The state of Alaska’s information on its hospital infection prevention program released January 25, 2010.
- Alaska Healthcare Associated Infections Plan Source: State of Alaska Epidemiology (Monday December 28, 2009)
Alaska’s plan to reduce hospital infections released December 28, 2009.
- CDC Releases New Dialysis Audit Tools and Checklists Source: CDC (Monday August 20, 2012)
CDC’s Dialysis Bloodstream Infection (BSI) Prevention Collaborative has released new audit tools and checklists to help dialysis facilities establish and engage in bloodstream infection prevention efforts.
- Health Watch USA August 2012 Newsletter Source: Health Watch USA (Wednesday August 22, 2012)
Patient safety news and links from Health Watch USA.
- Nursing Home Inspect Source: ProPublica (Tuesday August 14, 2012)
Use this ProPublica tool to search more than 20,000 nursing home inspection reports, most completed since January 2011, and encompassing nearly 118,000 deficiencies. You can search by state or by the severity level of the deficiencies cited. The default search ranks results by the severity level of the problem found.
- Report: Sick, Scared and Separated from Loved Ones Source: NYPIRG (Wednesday August 8, 2012)
New report by New Yorkers for Patient & Family Empowerment and the New York Public Interest Research Group urging hospitals to have patient-centered visiting policies and to respect the patient’s right to decide who can visit.
- A Perspective on the Evidence Regarding Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Surveillance (Free Access) Source: Journal of Patient Safety (Tuesday August 7, 2012)
The manuscript on MRSA Surveillance and the not setting of standards which was published in the Journal of Patient Safety is now FREE ACCESS. This article by Health Watch USA tells part of the story of the behind the USA not setting standards for MRSA Surveillance. “The publication in prominent journals of 2 studies, the STAR*ICU Study and the MRSA-Swiss Study, seems to have had a disproportionate impact on health-care policy, which has stymied the widespread adoption of MRSA active surveillance testing in hospitals.” — Journal of Patient Safety, Aug. 2012.
- HHS Action Plan releases a section on preventing infections in nursing homes Source: HHS (Monday July 23, 2012)
The Department of Health and Human Services has recently released for public comment a draft action plan on preventing infections among nursing home residents.
- Health Watch USA Newsletter July 27, 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Friday July 27, 2012)
Patient safety news and links from Health Watch USA.
- HHS report: Few Adverse Events in Hospitals Were Reported to State Adverse Event Reporting Systems Source: US Department of Health and Human Services (Thursday July 19, 2012)
HHS OIG report: An estimated 60 percent of adverse and temporary harm events nationally occurred at hospitals in States with reporting systems, yet only an estimated 12 percent of events nationally met State requirements for reporting. Hospitals reported only 1 percent of patient harm events.
- Reduction in Clostridium difficile Infection Rates after Mandatory Hospital Public Reporting: Findings from a Longitudinal Cohort Study in Canada Source: Public Library of Science (Tuesday July 17, 2012)
Canadian study: Public reporting of C.diff infections associated with a 26.7% reduction rate in C.diff cases, or a projected 1,970 cases averted per year.
- West Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infection Public Reporting Program 2012 Annual Report Source: West Virginia Health Care Authority (Thursday March 1, 2012)
- TN Report on Healthcare-Associated Infections
January 1, 2008 — June 30, 2011
- Consumer Advocate Perspective Provided by Jean Rexford at US Senate Hearing Source: HAI Focus (Sunday July 8, 2012)
Jean Rexford, the Executive Director of the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, recently testified at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging about Patient Safety.
- CDC: Predicting Risk for Death from MRSA Bacteremia Source: CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases (Monday June 25, 2012)
CDC publishes new study that identifies factors associated with risk of death from MRSA.
- Health Watch USA Newsletter, June 2012 Source: Health Watch USA (Saturday June 16, 2012)
June 2012 newsletter from Health Watch USA, Member of the National Quality Forum and a designated “Community Leader” for Value-Driven Healthcare by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Health Watch USA in conjunction with Consumers Union had a poster presentation on the Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) at the US DHHS 2012 HAI Data Summit in Kansas City, MO.
- Oregon Healthcare Acquired Infections Reports Source: Oregon Health Authority (Thursday June 14, 2012)
New report released June 2012: Oregon Healthcare Acquired Infections Report January 2009-December 2011
- Expensive Hospital Readmissions Linked to Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: Infection Control Today (Friday May 4, 2012)
New SHEA study finds a strong link between healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and patient readmission after an initial hospital stay.
- Patient Guides on Healthcare-Associated Infections Source: SHEA (Monday May 7, 2012)
Patient Guides on Healthcare-Associated Infections from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Spanish guides available.
- CesareanRates.com
CesareanRates.com is a snapshot of online cesarean rate reporting in the United States as of January 2012. The site compiles the most current hospital-level data accessible to the public online, whether reported directly by a state’s department of health or gathered from state hospital association web sites via pull-down menus.
- Herd Immunity: Mapping MRSA and Other Superbugs, One Case at a Time Source: Reporting on Health's Antidote (Wednesday April 11, 2012)
William Heisel of Antidote creating a Google map of MRSA and other superbugs, one case at a time. Send your examples to askantidote@gmail.com or via Twitter @wheisel.
- A tale of two cows: Why we have a cow map and not a healthcare acquired infection map Source: CDDEP (Tuesday March 13, 2012)
Authors at Health Watch USA use satire and metaphor to dissipate the unnecessary obfuscation of healthcare acquired infections and to bring an ease of understanding to the devastating issue of these infections.
- CDC: C.diff information Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Tuesday March 6, 2012)
C. difficile causes diarrhea linked to 14,000 American deaths each year. While most types of health care-associated infections are declining, one – caused by the germ C. difficile – remains at historically high levels.
- Using fecal transplants to treat recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) Source: CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (Tuesday January 17, 2012)
CDC MD: “Transplanting feces from one human to another may sound repulsive, but for patients suffering from recurrent, debilitating diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, a fecal transplant offers a ray of hope.”
- Understanding the Physiology of Healthcare Pathogens for Environmental Disinfection Source: Infection Control Today (Thursday February 23, 2012)
Expert explains bad bugs in hospitals.
- Influenza Vaccination Among Health Care Personnel In California General Acute Care Hospitals For The 2010-11 Respiratory Season
California Department of Public Health: 60.4% of California healthcare workers got vaccinated during the 2010-2011 flu season.
- Adverse Events in Hospitals: Medicare's Responses to Alleged Serious Events
Medicare hospital oversight failed to address serious medical errors such as medication and surgical errors, physical abuse by hospital staff, and patient suicide.
- Control of Health-Care--Associated Infections, 1961--2011
CDC’s overview of the history of U.S. hospital infection control from 1961 to 2011.
- The Joint Comission responds to coalition of patient safety consumer groups regarding The Joint Comission's complaint process
Response letter from The Joint Commission President, Mark Chassin, to patient safety advocates who called on the organization earlier this month to improve responsiveness to patient complaints.
- ResistanceMap: Expanded, Updated, and Interactive
ResistanceMap – an online tool for visualizing antibiotic resistance from Extending the Cure – launches a second edition today with more bacteria-antibiotic combinations, U.S.-Canada-Europe comparisons of resistance trends, and lots of opportunities to interact with the data.
- Tennessee Center for Patient Safety Annual Report 2010
TN Hospital Association’s Center for Patient Safety Report indicates reduction of hospital-acquired infections in 2010.
- Consumer groups seek Senator Harkin to help in making Medicare accreditation surveys public
Patient safety consumer groups, including Consumers Union, seek Senator Harkin to help in making Medicare accreditation surveys public.
- Consumer groups call on The Joint Commission to improve responsiveness to patient complaints
A coalition of patient safety consumer groups, including Consumers Union, wrote a letter to the Joint Commission to improve responsiveness to patient complaints.
- CDC: Rates of C-difficile Infection Among Hospitalized Patients 65 and older
” From 1996 to 2009, C. difficile rates for hospitalized persons aged ≥65 years increased 200%”
- Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Provides Analysis and Data-Driven Prevention Strategies to Reduce Central-Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)
Patient safety information from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory on prevention strategies for reducing and/or eliminating central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) based on 2010 data submitted by PA hospitals.
- 2010 State Snapshots
Information about the quality of care in your state by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Charts and individual state performance summaries based on more than 100 quality measures such as preventing pressure sores, screening for diabetes-related foot problems, and giving recommended care to pneumonia patients.
- The Empowered Patient Video
In the year 2000, 8000 children died of medical error in hospitals. Parents and advocates have joined together to try to improve quality and change healthcare policy.
- Video: A New Angle on Patient Safety at UB: Turning tragedy into advocacy so that future patients benefit
Patient safety advocate, Mary Brennan-Taylor of New York, turns the loss of her mother to hospital-acquired infections into a force for change within the University of Buffalo’s medical school. Using her mother’s case as a teaching program, UB students looked for evidence-based best practices to understand what went wrong and then acted out the way it could have and should have turned out.
- Partnering to Heal video training program
Partnering to Heal is a computer-based, video-simulation training program on infection control practices for clinicians, health professional students, and patient advocates.
- Bedbugs as Vectors for Drug-Resistant Bacteria
CDC: Bedbugs carrying MRSA and/or VRE may have the potential to act as vectors for transmission. Further studies are needed to characterize the association between S. aureus and bedbugs.
- Patient Safety Webinars
Past and future webinars on patient safety.
- Health Care Associated Infections and Impact on the Community
Dr Kevin Kavanagh, MD, MS, FACS Testifying Before the Joint Kentucky Senate and House Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education.
- Testimony on Healthcare Acquired Infections and Public Reporting
Presentation by Kevin Kavanagh, MD on Healthcare Acquired Infections and public reporting which was given to the Kentucky Joint Senate and House Committee on Veterans, Millitary Affairs and Public Protection.
- What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a Pennsylvania Nursing Home
This tip sheet explains steps you can take within the nursing home to deal with your concerns about quality of care. It tells you how to contact places that regulate or oversee nursing homes.
- What to Do if You Have a Concern about Quality in a Pennsylvania Hospital
This tip sheet explains steps you can take within the hospital to deal with your concerns about quality of care. It tells you how to contact the places that regulate or oversee hospitals.
- NJ Ambulatory Surgery Centers: Quality and Safety Information
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services information on the issues surrounding quality in ambulatory surgery centers. Info on how to file a complaint about an ambulatory surgical center and how to get a copy of individual inspection reports.
- Consumers' Priorities for Hospital Quality Improvement and Implications for Public Reporting
Report by the Center for Healthcare Decisions describes consumer perceptions of health care quality and provides new insights for those involved in public reporting.
- Veterans Affairs Initiative to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections
Three year MRSA prevention program yields significant results – CDC should make MRSA screening a tier one prevention category.
- Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services description of its new patient safety initiative.
- CT Department of Public Health press release on first hospital-specific report on healthcare associated infections
Connecticut released its first hospital-specific public report on central line-associated bloodstream infections.
- Connecticut Hospital–Specific Report on Health Care Associated Infections
Explanation of CT hospital infection public report.
- Reducing Hospital Readmissions--Lessons from Top-Performing Hospitals
Report of four case studies of hospitals with low readmission rates.
- Public Reporting of Hospital Infections in Kentucky
Dr Kevin Kavanagh, MD Testifying in Support of HB 291
- Maryland Hospital Guide
This Guide includes measures that compare hospital performance on processes of care quality measures that are designed to prevent infections for patients undergoing surgery and on outcome measures of care.
- Medicare releases hospital specific data
Medicare released hospital specific data on hospital-acquired conditions – preventable errors that happened to hospital patients covered by Medicare over a 21-month period. This spreadsheet, which is available in a ZIP FILE, reveals only a small fraction of the 1 in 4 hospital medical errors, but is the first time this information has been made public. Later this year, the information will be presented on Hospital Compare in a more consumer-friendly format.
- What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a Maine Nursing Home
Advice and resources for dealing with quality concerns
- What to Do if You Have a Concern about Quality in a Maine Hospital
Advice and resources for dealing with quality concerns
- State-Specific Supplement to the National Healthcare-Associated Infection Standardized Infection Ratio Report: July 2009 through December 2009
State by state summary report on central line associated bloodstream infections
- First Do No Harm
“Last year there wasn’t a single fatal airline accident in the developed world. So why is the U.S. health care system still accidently killing hundreds of thousands? The answer is a lack of transparency.”
- Making Health Care Safer: Reducing bloodstream Infections
A new report issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a significant decrease in certain infections over the past nine years. The report found that central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) occurring in hospital intensive care units dropped by 58 percent between 2001 and 2009.
- Study finds MRSA screening saves hospitals money
Screening patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) produces cost savings for the whole hospital, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
- MRSA Trends in Illinois Hospitals: 2002-2007
In 2002, there were 6,841 cases of MRSA diagnosed by Illinois hospitals. This number has increased steadily each year, with 11,372 cases diagnosed in 2007, a 66.2 percent increase in total cases over the six-year period.
- Extending the Cure: MRSA Map
Interactive map on the spread of MRSA in the US
- Extending the Cure's ResistanceMap
Extending the Cure’s ResistanceMap tracks changes in resistance levels across regions of the United States from 2000-2009, covering four common bacteria-drug combinations. The maps tell a story of growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics and identify regional differences in resistance levels.
- California HealthCare Foundation: Hospital-Acquired Infections
California HealthCare Foundation articles on hospital-acquired infections.
- State Tackles Winnable Battle with Innovative Acute and Long-Term Care Partnership
Vermont is taking on an exciting new project to prove that preventing healthcare-associated infections is a “winnable battle.”
- What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a New York Nursing Home
Steps you can take if you are concerned about the quality of care in a NY nursing home.
- The role of Surveillance Cultures in the Prevention of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Acute Care Facilities
Health Watch USA literature review on the prevention of MRSA including surveillance cultures.
- Presentation to legislative committee on Public reporting of hospital infection rates in KY by Kevin Kavanagh, HealthWatchUSA.
Links to handouts and presentation:
http://www.safepatientproject.org/pdf/20101020-HAI-PublicReporting-HandOut-Final.pdfhttp://www.safepatientproject.org/pdf/HAI-PublicReporting-20101020-Final.pdf
- Dangerous Dialysis
Article about the common errors (including infection) that occur in dialysis units.
- Dialysis Facility Surveys--California 2010
End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Dialysis Facility Survey reports for California for 2010.
- Maximizing Infection Prevention in the Next Decade: Defining the Unacceptable
CDC Director, Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, gives an overview of the healthcare-acquired infection prevention landscape and getting to a norm where HAIs are seen as “rare, unacceptable events.”
- Influenza Vaccination Among Employees in California General Acute Care Hospitals for the 2008-2009 Respiratory Season
The California Department of Public Health reports findings revealed in Consumers Union’s report that only about half of California healthcare workers got vaccinated during the 2008-2009 flu season.
- One in four patients experiences revolving-door hospitalizations
Over a 2-year period, roughly one-quarter of all hospital patients were readmitted for the same conditions that prompted their initial hospitalization, according to the latest data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
- Policy Proposals for Combating Antibiotic Resistance
“Antibiotics are a limited resource—much like fish or forests—and an agenda for future research must examine ways to encourage drug development while also promoting conservation.”
- Health Care-Associated Infections Greatly Increase the Length and Cost of Hospital Stays
AHRQ (August 25, 2010)
- Demonstrating Return on Investment for Infection Prevention and Control
The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has produced a report outlining the need for investment in infection prevention.
- Why Not The Best? Comparative Reports on Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections
Users of WhyNotTheBest.org can now search for and compare data for nearly 1,000 hospitals on the incidence of central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)—one of the most lethal hospital-acquired complications. The data show wide variation in CLABSI incidence, in spite of strong evidence on how to prevent them. The updated data is made possible through a partnership among The Commonwealth Fund, The Leapfrog Group, and Consumers Union.
- Veterans Health Administration MRSA Initiative February 2010 (PDF)
Veterans Health Administration five-year plan to reduce MRSA infections in VA hospitals.
- Veterans Health Administration 2010 MRSA Study (PDF)
Health Watch USA has obtained VA results of hospital acquired infection rates for MRSA.
- Veterans Health Administration MRSA Initiative January 2007 (PDF)
Data was collected while patients were treated under VHA Directive 2007-002 which mandated universal active surveillance/screening of all patients admitted to the VA Hospital (except psychiatric units), contact precautions and hand hygiene.
- The First State-Specific HAI Summary Data Report January-June, 2009 (PDF)
CDC report on national and state data related to central line-associated bloodstream infections. For more information, click here.
- State Plans to Address Healthcare-Associated Infections
Plans about what the states are supposed to be doing to eliminate hospital acquired infections.
- Sustaining reductions in catheter related bloodstream infections in Michigan intensive care units: observational study
90 Michigan hospitals sustain low bloodstream infections using the checklist.
- Antimicrobial Resistance State Fact Sheets Map
Link to map that highlights antimicrobial resistance issues at the state level.
- Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority 2009 Annual Report
PA annual report on state activities relating to hospital infections and medical errors.
- Clostridium Difficile Infections in Pennsylvania Nursing Homes
Mandatory reporting of healthcare-acquired infections began in Pennsylvania nursing homes in June 2009 and this report is based on preliminary data from July-September 2009. The Authority is not yet releasing the data by facility.
- What To Do If You Have Concern About Quality in a California Nursing Home
Steps you can take if you are concerned about the quality of care in a CA nursing home.
- What to Do if You Have a Concern about Quality in a California Hospital
What to do if you are concerned about your hospital’s quality of care and links to resources that can help. It addresses steps you can take within a hospital or with organizations that regulate or oversee hospitals.
- 2009 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports
Patient safety and healthcare-associated infections deserve “urgent attention,” according to the 2009 National Healthcare Quality Report. Published by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the report calls the country’s healthcare quality “suboptimal” and says “the gap between the best possible care and that which is routinely delivered remains substantial” across the country.
- Medical Errors State Reporting (Map)
The Hearst Newspapers have created a color coded map of state reporting systems for medical errors. States collect a variety of data in different ways. The amount of information available to the public also differs from state to state.
- Iowa Infection Rates
Des Moines hospital posts rates of hospital infection and patient falls, two common medical harm events.
- Maryland: All-Payer Approach to Nonpayment
Learn about Maryland’s efforts to alter its payment system for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- Minnesota: Comprehensive Quality Improvement and Payment Reform
Learn about Minnesota’s efforts to alter its payment system for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- Kansas: Medicaid Mirrors Medicare Policy on Adverse Events
Learn about Kansas efforts to alter its payment system for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- Missouri: Focus on Nonpayment for Adverse Events
Learn about Missouri’s efforts to alter its payment system for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- Nonpayment for Preventable Events and Conditions: Aligning State and Federal Policies To Drive Health System Improvement
A new report on state and federal nonpayment policies for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- State Patient Safety Initiatives and Nonpayment for Preventable Events and Conditions
A new report on state and federal nonpayment policies for preventable hospital acquired conditions and events that harm patients.
- Washington Healthcare-Associated Infection Program
Washington Healthcare-Associated Infection Program
- Tennessee Reports on Healthcare Associated Infections
- Iowa Hospital Performance Report
Report from a collaboration of health care providers in Iowa claims decreases in infection rates but fails to provide details by hospital. Reporting is voluntary so not all hospitals have provided information.
- New Mexico MRSA Collaborative reports year-long results on MRSA bloodstream infections (PDF)
The New Mexico MRSA Collaborative reports that, after its year-long efforts to reduce healthcare-acquired MRSA infections, participating hospitals reduced their rate of MRSA bloodstream infections by 48 percent over 12 months. In essence, about 17 MRSA cases were avoided as a result of the efforts made by collaborative participants. Read the report here.
- PA: Hospital Mortality Rates Decline; Reducing Readmissions Represents Cost and Quality Opportunities
A report shows that PA hospitals had a significant decrease mortality rates associated with hospital readmissions compared to the previous year. Readmissions often are due to complications or infections – in this case, the cause of 22,094 of PA readmissions, which accounted for almost $1.1 billion in charges and 157,000 hospital days. The report found that readmissions for complication or infection comprise 38.2% of all readmissions in PA.
- Carriage of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Home Care Settings
Study finds nearly 13% of hospital patients leave with MRSA and pass the superbug on to nearly 20% of the people in their households.
- PA requirements for reporting hospital-acquired infections and information about their prevention
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority
- Testimony in support of hospital infection reporting implementation
Testimony by Jason George, legislative and political organizer for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, before the MN House Health Policy Committee on hospital-acquired infections.
- IOM Vision for Reducing Medical Errors Not Yet Realized
Has the U.S. made any progress on patient safety since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released To Err is Human in 1999?
- Reduce Your Risk of Infection Before an Ambulatory Procedure
Advice for preventing infection at an ambulatory facility.
- 10 Steps for Students to Prevent MRSA
Are you a student? Learn how to protect yourself from MRSA by using this printable pocket guide prepared by Nile’s Project.
- 15 Steps to Prevent Infections in Hospitals
Printable pocket guide prepared by Nile’s Project.
- MRSA Fact Sheet (PDF)
Informational flier prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- State Laws Relating to Hospital-Acquired Infections
Twenty-six states have enacted some form of reporting law, requiring hospitals, and sometimes other health care facilities, to submit infection data to the state or the Centers for Disease Control, and release this information to the public on the Internet.
- Rehospitalizations Among Patients in the Medicare Fee-for-Service Program
A study of Medicare hospital records from 2003 and 2004 found that 1 in 5 patients was readmitted within 30 days, and half of non-surgical patients were rehospitalized without having seen an outpatient doctor in follow-up. In 2004 Medicare paid $17.4 billion to hospital for these readmissions. Readmissions are often avoidable and connected with problems in the hospital (like an infection) or with aftercare.
- Testimony in support of MRSA reporting bill (PDF)
Testimony on MRSA bill to the Senate Finance Committee considered by the 2009 Maryland General Assembly.
- Report: The Direct Medical Costs of Health Care Associated Infections in US Hospitals and the Benefits of Prevention
According to the CDC, the overall annual direct medical costs of hospital acquired infections to U.S. hospitals ranges from $28.4 to $33.8 billion.
- Adverse events in hospitals: Overview of key issues
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General report on issues ranging from public and confidential reporting of adverse events, variations in estimates of adverse events, underreporting, measurements and nonpayment policyies for adverse events.
- Medicare Nonpayment for Hospital Acquired Conditions
On February 8, 2006, President Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-171) (DRA) which contained language creating a system for quality adjustment of Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services. The law required the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to identify at least two hospital-acquired conditions which could have reasonably been avoided through the application of evidence based guidelines and would be subject to the adjustment in payment.
- HHS National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections
Following last year’s GAO report on the federal response to hospital-acquired infections, the US Department of Health and Human Services has produced a “National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections.” The federal agency is seeking public comments on the Plan, due 2/6/09.
- GAO report on hospital infections related to medical devices
The GAO determined the scope and collection of available data limited the agencies ability to determine a national estimate of hospital associated infecdtions related to medical devices. However, experts report medical staff practices as a significant factor.
- Infection Control
Trends in Health Care: Zeroing in on infection prevention and control. The report also links to tables with data from a joint survey of hospital employees conducted in 2008 about most effective methods hospitals use to measure and enforce hand hygiene compliance.
- National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) report on 2008 hospital infection data
This report is a summary of hospital associated infection data collected by NHSN from 2006-2007. Data was collected on device and procedure associated infections reported by participating hospitals. No individual hospitals are identified.
- New study released on prevalence of C-difficile
New national study finds prevalence of C. difficile infections in hospitals 6.5 to 20 times higher than previous studies. Most are identified as health care acquired, indicating hospitals and nursing homes need to do more to stop the spread of these infections. Consumers Union’s policy brief (PDF)explains the problem.
- A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals
A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals puts existing guidelines and clinical experience into a more practical format that is more useful to health care workers and hospital staff and can help hospitals design comprehensive infection control programs. The compendium covers surgical site infections, central-line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, MRSA, and Clostridium difficile.
- GAO study of infection-reporting methods
An Overview of State Reporting Programs and Individual Hospital Initiatives to Reduce Certain Infections.
- Diarrhea Caused By Antibiotics
“Antibiotics making you sick?”
- Superbug / MRSA California epidemic
Clips from a California hearing on MRSA. Sen. Florez questions California medical experts. Includes testimony from Betsy Imholz (Consumers Union) and Carole Moss (the Nile’s Project). Video produced by the Nile’s Project MRSA (www.nilesproject.com).
- Pets and MRSA
UK website about MRSA in pets and transmission
- Potentially Deadly Infection Doubles Among Hospital Patients Over Last 5 Years
The Agency for Health care Research and Quality report finds disturbing trends in c.difficile infections, which can lead to diarrhea, blood poisoning and death.
- Hearing video: Healthcare-Associated Infections: A Preventable Epidemic
Hearing of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chairman Henry A. Waxman.
- GAO Report: Federal Response to Health Care Associated Infections
Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: Leadership Needed from HHS to Prioritize Prevention Practices and Improve Data on These Infections.
- Catheter chaos: Most hospitals are failing to follow proven strategies to prevent urinary tract infections
University of Michigan survey reveals that hospitals don’t have a consistent strategy for dealing with urinary catheters or ensuring their timely removal
- Health Guide: MRSA Infection
Background information on causes, symptoms, treatment, and other resources
- Surgical Infection Prevention
About three of every 100 operations performed in the United States are complicated by surgical site infections (Gaynes et al. 2001).
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) web page on nonpayment of hospital-acquired infections and other conditions
Includes the list of “hospital-acquired conditions” for which no additional payments will be made starting Oct. 1, 2009.
- What is the main way that staph or MRSA is transmitted in the community? Q & A from the CDC
The main mode of transmission of staph and/or MRSA is via hands which may become contaminated by contact with a) colonized or infected individuals, b) colonized or infected body sites of other persons, or c) devices, items, or environmental surfaces contaminated with body fluids containing staph or MRSA. Other factors contributing to transmission include skin-to-skin contact, crowded conditions, and poor hygiene.
- Health-Care Associated MRSA
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s web page on MRSA
- Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in the United States
Study reveals overwhelming majority of MRSA infections are acquired in hospitals and health care settings.
- New Medicare rules on non-payment for hospital infections and other medical errors
Rules go into effect October 1, 2008.
- Infections with MRSA in U.S. Hospitals, 1993-2005
The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project reports on the rise in antibiotic-resistant MRSA infection in hospitals.
- Report: MRSA infections are 8.6 times more prevalent than previous estimates
The antibiotic-resistant bacteria is found in all wards throughout most hospitals. The study is the first nationwide analysis on the prevalence of MRSA in U.S. healthcare facilities.
- Dispelling the Myths: The True Cost of Health Care Associated Infections
Report shows that hospital-acquired infections erode the profit margin of US hospitals by $5000 per infected patient.
- Infections due to medical care in Oregon hospitals
Report highlights the financial impact of hospital infections in Oregon
- Rates of C-Difficile infections reported in Ohio
A new Ohio report shows that cases of C-Difficile infections exceed 1,000 every month.
- Institute of Progressive Medicine says hospitals should screen all patients for MRSA
Institute criticizes statement by infection control groups opposing MRSA screening for all hospital patients.
- Invasive MRSA infections among dialysis patients
A new report by the CDC underscores the need for better surveillance and infection-control strategies in dialysis centers.
- Dispelling the Myth: The True Cost of Healthcare-Associated Infections
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) report highlights for hospital CEO’s the financial impact of hospital-acquired infections.
- Florida Gov. Crist calls for “best practices to reduce hospital-acquired infections and improve outcomes"
See last paragraph
- Plexus Institute seeks solutions to MRSA
A bacteria that stalks every patient admitted to a hospital in this country.
- Ohio publishes rate of c.difficile in state's hospitals
Clostridium difficile is an increasingly important cause of infectious diseases, especially in health care settings. Find reported rates for Ohio acute care hospitals and nursing homes for 2006.
- Texas hospital infection committee recommends statewide reporting system
Texas hospital infection committee recommends statewide reporting system
- Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: Getting to zero
Clinical evidence shows that hospitals can virtually eliminate such infections by following a special ventilator patient care protocol
- CDC guidelines on managing antibiotic-resistant infections in health care settings
New guidelines for U.S. health care facilities to control drug-resistant infections are strictly voluntary and fail to recommend proven prevention practices.
- Remaking American Medicine: First Do No Harm
Beginning on October 5, PBS presents a four-part series on pioneering individuals struggling to fix our broken health care system. Episode Two, entitled “First Do No Harm,” focuses on hospital infections and will air on October 12 on most PBS stations. Check local listings to confirm.
- Doctors told to stop shaving surgical sites to prevent infections
Research has shown that skin abrasions caused by shaving increases the risk of postoperative infections.
- Congressional Hearing on Public Reporting of Hospital Infections
Listen to a webcast of the House Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee’s March 29, 2006 hearing on hospital infections by clicking on the link above.
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement touts lives saved by its hospital campaign
Group says 60,500 lives have been saved in the first nine months of its one-year campaign to prevent unnecessary deaths at hospitals, including fatalities from infections.
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement challenges myth that infections cannot be eliminated
The rate of ventilator associated pneumonia in 14 hospitals participating in IHI’s 100,000 Lives campaign drops to zero.
- Pennsylvania releases new information about heart surgery and hospital infections
Pennsylvania report identifies key findings about hospital-acquired infections in heart surgery patients.
- Pennsylvania’s hospital acquired infection battle
An in-depth look at how Pennsylvania is tackling hospital-acquired infections and getting significant results: saving lives, reducing illness, and lowering health care costs.
- Active surveillance cultures helping to control infections
The use of active surveillance cultures to screen patients for MRSA, along with appropriate precautions for infected patients is a promising new strategy for preventing and controlling hospital infectons.
- Guidance on public reporting of healthcare-associated infections
Many state and national initiatives are underway to mandate or induce health care organizations to publicly disclose information regarding institutional and physician performance.
- Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings
CDC: Of the estimated 1.6 million nursing home residents, 250,000 have infections, and 27,000 of them have antibiotic resistant infections.
- Ohio Health Committee Approves Hospital Infection Reporting Bill
The Ohio House health Committee has approved legislation by Representative Jim Raussen that requires hospitals to report data on a whole range of health care quality measures, including hospital-acquired infections.
- Steps you can take to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections
Most of us will have to go into the hospital some day. Here are specific steps you can follow to protect yourself from deadly hospital infections.
- Infection-Thwarting Catheters, Planning Key in Reducing Hospital Deaths
New study shows that antiseptic-coated catheters and better safety measures in hospitals can significantly reduce the number of infection-related hospital deaths.
- MRSA Watch: Tracking the rise of antibodic resistant infections
MRSA Watch site gives extensive information about studies, guidelines and recent stories about MRSA in the UK.
- Pennsylvania report based on 2004 data collected under that state’s law requiring hospitals to report hospital-acquired infections
An astounding 76% of the infections were paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. Also, the report reminds us that the uninsured carry the heaviest financial burden, since they are unable to negotiate discounted prices with their hospitals, as do Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance plans.
- The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has now signed up over 2900 US hospitals to participate in their 100,000 Lives campaign
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has now signed up over 2900 US hospitals to participate in their 100,000 Lives campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to save lives by using proven methods to prevent hospital-acquired infections and medical errors. Consumers should know about these life-saving practices and if
- Lack of Commitment to Cleaner Hospitals in the UK, Patients Association reports
A report by The Patients Association into hospital acquired infections reveals haphazard approach towards screening patients for MRSA.
- A proactive approach to educate patients about and prevent hospital-acquired infections
The Saskatoon Health Region in Canada has taken a proactive approach to educate their patients about and prevent hospital-acquired infections, including information about rates of infection. They have developed fact sheets for patients about common hospital infections – MRSA, VRE, and C. difficile – including how patients
- Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
CDC pages on healthcare-acquired infections and community-acquired infections
- Drug-resistant staphylococcus bacteria
Drug-resistant staphylococcus bacteria, which once threatened mainly patients in hospitals and nursing homes, have spread beyond the institutional walls and are now striking young, healthy people at a growing rate. The bugs, mainly new strains of the types lurking in hospitals, are spread by contact with infected skin or simply by sharing towels, clothing, or other personal items.
- The Problem of Antibiotic Resistance
The problem of antibiotic resistance in treating hospital-acquired infections from the National of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discusses
- Hand Hygiene is the number 1 weapon against infections
Reader Feedback: Hand Hygiene is No. 1 Weapon Against Infections
- National Hospital Compare site suspends effort to publicly report surgical infection prevention measure
After careful consideration the CMS along with the JCAHO have agreed to temporarily suspend public reporting of hospital performance on appropriate antibiotic selection for surgical prophylaxis. CMS and JCAHO will continue to collect data on antibiotic selection for surgical prophylaxis during the temporary suspension but will not publicly report performance on this measure on Hospital Compare.
- Infection prevention experts stress importance of hand hygiene compliance
Despite the fact that hand hygiene is the most simple and effective means of reducing the transmission of germs, many clinicians do not consistently follow hand hygiene recommendations, such as those issued by the CDC.
- Patient Safety
Minnesota releases adverse events report released. The report identifies 27 different “medical errors” (such as operating on the wrong part of the body or wrong patient) and “adverse events” (such as patient falls, suicide, and abduction), it does not include hospital-acquired infections. A new bill filed in the MN legislature (HF 87) will require inclusion of hospital infections in the future.
- Community-Associated MRSA - Frequently Asked Questions
MRSA is a staph infection that is resistant to treatment by common antibiotics. Recently, “community acquired” MRSA (“CA-MRSA”) has been on the increase. The CDC has information available about MRSA.
- CDC's tips for surgery partients to prevent infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presents helpful tips on preventing hospital-acquired infections.
- The National Quality Forum Releases Voluntary Standards
The NQF, a coalition of medical groups, employers, consumer groups and others, this year released practice standards to reduce hospital infection and other quality of care problems.
- JCAHO Asks Hospitals to Report
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations this year asked hospitals to improve their reporting of hospital infections that result in serious harm or death to the patient (sentinel events).
- The Impact of Hospital Acquired Bloodstream Infections
Researchers estimate that blood stream infections, a subset of all hospital-acquired infecation, may be the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. Study sites other research showing substantial reduction in infection with better hand washing compliance.
- Hand Washing Prevents Hospital Infections
The CDC estimates that each year nearly 2 million patients in the U.S. get an infection in hospitals, and about 90,000 of these patients die as a result of their infection. The CDC presents new hand-hygiene guidelines to reduce the spread of infections.
- Hospital Infections Cost U.S. Billions of Dollars Annually
The CDC estimates that hospital-acquired infections cost us all nearly $5 billion a year.
- Illinois Passes State Law to Make Hospital Infection Rates Public
A coalition of consumer, labor and employer groups supported the final passage of a groundbreaking disclosure law that makes infection rates public for Illinois consumers.
Antibiotic Resistance
Extending the Cure tracks changes in antibiotic resistance levels across regions of the United States, covering common bacteria-drug combinations. The ResistanceMap tells a story of growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics and identifies regional differences in resistance levels.
To Delay is Deadly
98,000 people die each year needlessly because of preventable medical harm. Efforts to reduce this are few and fragmented. With little transparency and no public reporting (except where hard fought state laws now require it), scarce data does not paint a picture of real progress.
In this report (PDF) we give the country a failing grade on progress on select recommendations we believe necessary to create a health-care system free of preventable medical harm.