The Unknown Killer
Each year, Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) affect millions of patients and add billions of dollars to healthcare costs in the U.S. GE’s Healthcare division is aggressively working to find ways to address this issue and prevent the widespread occurrence of HAIs in the future.
GE and JESS3 partnered to create an infographic which visualizes several statistics related to the spread of HAIs such as the number of people who die of HAIS in the US annually, the staggering number of people who are affected by HAIs annually and the incredible cost it creates per patient and to the healthcare system. By laying out the complex numbers in this sharp and colorful graphic, GE hopes to raise awareness about the widespread problem which scientific evidence suggests could often be preventable.
Conclusion
And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:
Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752
Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790
Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421
Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com
Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com
Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.
Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos
Sponsors Welcomed: And, credible sponsors and like-minded advertisers are always welcomed.
Link: http://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/advertise
Filed under: "Doctors Only", Breaking News, Research & Development Tagged: | HAIs, Healthcare Associated Infections, hospital acquired infections, nosocomial infections
Introducing the Safe Surgery Initiative
This new website is home to a collection of tools and resources used to help raise awareness, increase knowledge, and change behavior related to the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI), a major source of preventable postoperative illness.
An introductory video message from my colleague David Nash, MD MBA, Dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health on the campus of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, is included.
https://www.jjhcsfoundations.com/?quality-safety/login.html
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
Checklist prompts low infection rates at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) rates at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) were below national averages, according to a New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services report.
So, how did they do it? Through a statewide patient safety checklist!
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/checklist-prompts-low-infection-rates-dartmouth-hitchcock/2011-08-09?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
Statewide infection rates drop with insurance pressure
With Medicare dollars at stake, healthcare facilities are trying to reduce–and eventually eliminate–healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
For example, hospitals in California have found relative success through a three-year initiative that involves 160 hospitals across the state, reports the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hospital-infections-20110823,0,1452290.story
Hayward
Safety checklists offer tenfold return on investment
Using a hospital safety checklist to reduce lethal bloodstream infections in hospital intensive-care units (ICUs) not only saves lives but also thousands of dollars, according to new Johns Hopkins research.
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/press-releases/program-reduces-infections-saves-lives-and-money?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
Hospital garb harbors nasty bacteria, new study says
Sixrt percent [60%] of uniforms tested positive. Should workers wear duds outside?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44334682/ns/health-infectious_diseases/
Kathy
Nothing new to report here, folks!
Kathy – Relative to the above comment – these clothes, uniforms, surgical scrubs or ties are called fomites.
According to Wikipedia: A fomite is any inanimate object or substance capable of carrying infectious organisms (such as germs or parasites) and hence transferring them from one individual to another. A fomite can be anything (such as a cloth or mop head). Skin cells, hair, clothing, and bedding are common hospital sources of contamination.
Fomites are associated particularly with hospital acquired infections (HAI), as they are possible routes to pass pathogens between patients. Stethoscopes and neckties are two such fomites associated with health care providers. Basic hospital equipment, such as IV drip tubes, catheters, and life support equipment can also be carriers, when the pathogens form biofilms on the surfaces. Careful sterilization of such objects prevents cross-infection.
Researchers have discovered that smooth (non-porous) surfaces (e.g. door knobs) transmit bacteria and viruses better than porous materials (e.g. paper money).The reason is that porous, especially fibrous, materials absorb and trap the contagion, making it harder to contract through simple touch.
Nevertheless, I believe we should not take, or wear, such fomites outside the hospital; both to protect patients and the community at-large.
Still, most HAIs are avoidable and should rightly be considered “never-events”.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
Doctors are just filthy, Huh!
This topic is a pet peeve of mine. So, here is some more information from Aaron Carroll and my colleague Austin Frakt PhD, over at the “Incidental Economist”, blog.
http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/doctors-are-just-filthy-huh/
The essay contains a good historical review from the CDC, as well.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
Is It Time To Ditch The White Coats?
A recent study suggests that doctors might want to hang up their iconic white coats and long sleeves to prevent the spread of dangerous bacteria.
Why? Dr. Yonit Weiner-Well and his colleagues sampled uniforms of 135 physicians and nurses at the Hebrew-University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem. They found that overall 60 percent had disease-causing bacteria, including some that were resistant to antibiotics.
The study, which was published in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, also reports that there was very little difference in the amount of bacteria found on the uniforms of physicians and nurses.
http://www.ajicjournal.org/
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Antibiotic] Resistance Is Futile
Megan McArdle’s new article on antibiotic resistance was just published in The Atlantic (Resistance is Futile). She correctly identifies the problem as a market failure.
Antibiotics are an exhaustible resource. We should be treating them like an oil field, or an endangered species. Instead, we handle them like consumer electronics. And, the patent system is designed to promote human invention, not conserve what has already been discovered.
So, I fear we won’t stop the rising tide of infections until we develop a new business model to fight them.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/resistance-is-futile/8647/
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
Cubist Pharmaceuticals is developing a new drug to combat a
“difficult-to-treat family of bacteria, called gram-negatives, that are developing resistance to existing medicines and spreading among hospital patients”
writes Bloomberg, here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/resistant-bacteria-neglected-by-drugmakers-give-cubist-2-billion-market.html
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
Wash ‘Em – Hand Hygiene Music Video
At Jefferson University Hospitals, they take preventing infections seriously. For example, their latest effort to boost hand washing is a video they created called “Wash ‘Em.”
Watch their staff dance around the Hospital while showing the importance of hand washing. You’ll be singing their song all day!
Source: Josh Goldstein
http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/The-Daily-Dose/2011/September/hand-washing-other-practices-prevent-infections.aspx
Visualizing Antibiotic Resistance with a New Online Tool
The problem of antibiotic resistance tends to reach public consciousness in a scattershot manner — when ground turkey is recalled because it’s tainted with salmonella that can’t be treated by common drugs, for example.
But it’s hard to get a comprehensive picture of the extent to which certain infections have become impervious to treatment. So, check out this new online tool.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/09/21/visualizing-antibiotic-resistance-with-a-new-online-tool/
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™
[Editor-in-Chief]
http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
Is the Famed Cleveland Clinic Experiencing Sour Grapes?
In a controversial turn in patient safety reporting, Cleveland Clinic, along with Henry Ford in Detroit and Parkview Health in Indiana, have stopped reporting hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates to The Leapfrog Group, which examines national hospital standards of safety, quality, and efficiency, reported the Consumer Reports recently.
• http://www.consumerreports.org/health/doctors-hospitals/hospital-infection/deadly-infections-hospitals-can-lower-the-danger/overview/deadly-infections-hospitals-can-lower-the-danger.htm
• http://www.consumerreports.org/health/doctors-hospitals/hospital-ratings.htm
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Founder and CEO]
Hospital Infection Rates Decreasing
There is good news on the subject of hospital acquired infections –new CDC data shows a significant decline in rates. CDC reported for 2010:
• A 33 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections: a 35 percent reduction among critical care patients and a 26 percent reduction among non-critical care patients. A central line is a tube that is placed in a large vein of a patient’s neck or chest to give important medical treatment. When not put in correctly or kept clean, central lines can become a freeway for germs to enter the body and cause serious bloodstream infections.
• A 7 percent reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections throughout hospitals
• A 10 percent reduction in surgical site infections
• An 18 percent reduction in the number of people developing health care-associated invasive methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/p1019_healthcare_infections.html
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Founder and CEO]
Wearing Gloves Does Not Prevent Spread of Germs
A new study of hand hygiene in hospitals found that wearing latex gloves makes health care workers less likely to clean their hands before and after treating patients.
The finding is concerning, researchers say, because germs can travel through latex gloves, and because they’re often worn when doctors work with bodily fluids and the sickest, most infectious patients. Taking off latex gloves can also cause a “back spray” effect, in which fluids and germs are snapped back onto the wearer’s hands.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/gloves-are-no-guarantee-your-doctors-hands-are-clean/?ref=health
As a result, doctors and nurses who don’t wash up after using latex gloves can spread infections through contaminated hands.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
Confused hospitals underreport infections
According to Alicia Caramenico, despite reports that catheter infection rates are nearly 50 percent lower than the national average, California public health officials are investigating whether the reports accurately reveal the infections occurring at hospitals, reported the North County Times.
The probe even demonstrates a larger trend, as hospital infection reports are under scrutiny in Colorado and Connecticut, among other states.
http://www.nctimes.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health-state-hospital-infection-rates-look-low-but-may-not/article_67696952-2c3a-529b-8216-9abace395b8e.html
A pet peeve of mine.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
Infection rate too high in seven Georgia hospitals
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, seven Georgia hospitals, including four in metro Atlanta, scored worse than the national benchmark for cases of potentially deadly bloodstream infections.
Emory Midtown, Northside Hospital, Piedmont Henry Hospital and Southern Regional Medical Center all performed worse than their peers for rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive care units, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
http://www.ajc.com/news/infection-rate-too-high-1348882.html
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
The Infection Game?
Sepsis [infections] are no laughing matter–but a new tool [Game] aims to at least make learning about the dangers of infection a little more pleasant for docs.
http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/february/septris.html
I am not so sure, at all, about this. ME-P readers, please opine?
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Publisher-in-Chief]
Healthcare-acquired infections down but still a problem
Dr. Marcinko, inpatient infection rates are down, but there is still more work to be done.
In a report just released, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council said 21,319 of the 1.89 million patients admitted to Pennsylvania hospitals in 2010 acquired an infection. That is a rate of 1.13 percent, down from 1.20 percent the previous year.
http://www.phc4.org/reports/hai/10/docs/hai2010report.pdf
Laura
Infection Control Nurse
Dr. Marcinko
In light of a March study from the CDC about the growing death rate from C. difficile, I thought you’d be interested in this report.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6109a3.htm
Hope you find it of interest.
Andrea
Hospital-acquired infections quadruple ICU deaths
An analysis of a U.S. hospital database found that in-hospital mortality is four times higher in patients with a hospital-acquired infection (HAI) than in those without.
http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNABSTRACT_ID=142676&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNKONGRESS_ID=161&XNMASKEN_ID=900
Moreover, the length of stay in the ICU doubled for infected patients, up from a mean of 8.1 days to 15.8 days.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]
1:6 Cancer Deaths Caused by Preventable Infections
One in every six cancer deaths worldwide is caused by preventable infections, a total of 1.5 million deaths yearly that could be halted by widespread vaccination programs, researchers just reported recently.
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-infections-cancer-20120509,0,4395656.story
And, since 1990, that number has grown by about half a million, suggesting that vaccination programs are losing ground in the battle rather than gaining it.
Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
[Editor-in-Chief]