Rates of hospital-acquired infections increase

Rates of hospital-acquired infections increase

12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The nation's hospitals are failing to protect patients from potentially fatal infections despite years of prevention campaigns, the government said Tuesday.

The Health and Human Services department's 2009 quality report to Congress found "very little progress" on eliminating hospital-acquired infections and called for "urgent attention" to address the shortcomings – first brought to light a decade ago.

Of five major types of serious hospital-related infections, rates of illnesses increased for three. As many as 98,000 people a year die from medical errors, and preventable infections – along with medication mix-ups – are a significant part of the problem.

Such medical missteps will have financial consequences under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law. Starting in a few years, Medicare payments to hospitals will be reduced for preventable readmissions and for certain infections that can usually be staved off with good nursing care.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the report "a pretty clear diagnosis of some of the gaps and shortcomings in our nation's health care system."

According to the report:

• Rates of bloodstream infections after surgery increased by 8 percent.

• Urinary infections from the use of catheters after surgery increased by 3.6 percent.

• The overall incidence for a series of common infections due to medical care increased by 1.6 percent.

• There was no change in the number of bloodstream infections from central venous catheters – tubes placed in the neck, chest or groin to administer medications, drain fluids or collect blood samples.

• Rates of pneumonia after surgery dropped by 12 percent, the one bright spot.

The hospital industry said it was disappointed by the findings, but hopes the next round of studies will show improvement. Some recent efforts to reduce infections may not yet be reflected in the data.

The Associated Press