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Use Claims Analysis to Find Actionable Data, Not Just Global Data

Closed claims analyses can have limitations when recommending improved practices for clinicians. Strive for actionable information rather than global data.

Notorious Nurse Arrest Still Causes Subpoena Worries

The case drew attention to hospital policies and procedures regarding subpoenas and other demands from law enforcement, particularly how frontline clinicians can be left on their own to refuse police officers.

Subpoenas Require Response Plan, Staff Education on Proper Steps

Hospitals and health systems receive many subpoenas demanding information or the appearance of individuals in a legal matter, and it is easy to lose sight of how important it is to respond appropriately. Improperly responding to a subpoena can result in legal difficulties and damage the outcome of the related litigation.

Undetected Plague Exposes Hospital Workers

In an incident that could have implications for therapy and support dogs in healthcare, 116 employees and students in a veterinary teaching hospital were exposed to pneumonic plague by a dog with unrecognized infection, investigators report.

Intervention Reduces MRSA in Non-ICU Patients With Devices

Routine chlorhexidine bathing and targeted use of mupirocin dramatically reduced methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in non-ICU patients with invasive devices like central lines, researchers report.

Avoid Antibiotics by Reducing Unnecessary Urine Tests

Changing urine culture order test indications during a switch to a computerized physician order entry sharply reduced unnecessary cultures and saved considerable costs in lab expenses, researchers report. Moreover, it spared patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria from treatment more appropriate for a fully diagnosed urinary tract infection.

Surgical Site Infections and the Patient Microbiome

Evidence is mounting that the vast majority of surgical site infections (SSIs) are caused by microorganisms on patients’ skin and in their nares, meaning intensifying and improving skin prep and nasal decolonization could greatly reduce SSIs.

IPs Finally Moving the Needle on C. diff

A combination of antibiotic stewardship, infection prevention, and environmental cleaning contributed to a 20% reduction in Clostridioides difficile from 2016 to 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

IPs Held the Line When AIDS Epidemic Hit U.S.

Currently president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Karen Hoffmann was a new IP at Detroit Medical Center 38 years ago. She recalls the day in 1981 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on the first cases of what eventually would be called AIDS. Hospital Infection Control & Prevention talked to Hoffmann about the IP experience during the epidemic in the following interview.

A Bold Strategy to End the AIDS Epidemic in the U.S.

While taking an overall national approach, the plan — part of a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies — would target specific geographic areas and at-risk populations. The goals are a 75% reduction in infections in the next five years and a 90% reduction in 10 years.