Patient Safety
Infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for medical or surgical conditions take a significant toll on human life and healthcare dollars. Specifically:
- Healthcare-associated Infections incur an estimated $28 to $33 billion in excess healthcare costs each year
- At least 1.7 million healthcare associated infections occur each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths
- Four categories of infections account for approximately three quarters of Healthcare-associated Infections in the acute care hospital setting:
- Surgical site infections;
- Central line-associated bloodstream infections;
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia, and;
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infections. In addition, infections associated with Clostridium difficile and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus also contribute significantly to the overall problem.
HQSI is working with every acute care hospital in New Jersey to fight healthcare-associated infections. As the federally-designated Quality Improvement Organization for New Jersey, our services are underwritten by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are free to project participants.
HQSI’s work with New Jersey hospitals focuses on the following statewide initiatives:
How can HQSI help?
Many healthcare-associated infections are preventable. We can direct you to the evidence-based best practices.
Preventive steps to control and prevent healthcare-associated infections are cost-effective, save lives, and reduce disability for Americans. We can help you build a business case to support your local prevention efforts.
A systemic approach to reducing the transmission of disease can be more effective than disease-specific approaches. The education of best practices for providers and other healthcare personnel is critical to prevent healthcare-associated infections. We can provide you with tools, resources and access to local and national experts to support your prevention efforts.
Educating patients on healthcare-associated infections and how to prevent them is a critical component of an effective prevention intervention. We are coordinating an Healthcare-associated Infections Learning and Action Network that will support patient education efforts on a local, statewide and national level.
