Tracking MRSA

Quick View. Dec. 10, 2007.

What is your facility's biggest challenge regarding health care-associated infections?
Timely and efficient tracking of infections across the entire hospital population	33.8%
Control of resistant organisms	32.1%
Measuring compliance with hand hygiene	21.1%
State-mandated public reporting	9.5%
Other	3.5%
	100.0%
Of the hospital-associated conditions for which Medicare will stop paying in 2008, which is the most challenging in your facility?
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections	48.6%
Pressure ulcers	30.3%
Vascular catheter-associated bloodstream infections	17.6%
Mediastinitis following coronary artery bypass graft surgery	3.5%
	100.0%
How grave a threat do health care-associated infections pose compared with other patient-safety issues?
Most serious issue	13.3%
Serious issue	52.7%
Somewhat serious issue	29.7%
Not sure	4.3%
	100.0%

While deaths tripled in 2005, the disease has long been a central target of the nation's infection-control professionals.

Nearly 19,000 Americans died from invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 2005, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate. The figure was nearly triple the federal agency's 2001 estimate and set off alarms across the country this fall.

In a recent survey of 790 clinicians involved in hospital infection control, these specialists said insufficient funding and a stretched work force have hobbled efforts to prevent MRSA and other hospital-associated infections. Other responses:

Source: Nonprofit hospital purchasing network Premier Inc., October