State releases annual hospital infections report

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Catholic Medical Center
Catholic Medical Center

CONCORD,  NH – The  New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services  Division  of  Public  Health Services has released the 2014 Healthcare-Associated Infections  Hospital  Report  and  the  2014 Healthcare-Associated  Infections Ambulatory  Surgery  Center Report based on data from the 35 hospitals and 27 ASC licensed in the State during 2014.

The reports, as mandated by law, report data on the occurrence of   specific  Healthcare-Associated Infections.

For  hospitals,  central  line-associated  bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and surgical site infections following certain heart, colon, abdominal hysterectomy, and knee surgical  procedures  are  reported.  For  ASC,  surgical  site  infections following  certain  breast, hernia, and open reduction of fracture surgical procedures are reported.

The  reports also provide data on hospital and ASC compliance with measures that  help  protect  patients  from healthcare-associated infections. These data  include  adherence  to  infection prevention practices during central line  insertions in hospitals, the appropriate use of antimicrobials during surgical  procedures  in  ASC,  and  influenza  vaccination  coverage among hospital and ASC healthcare personnel.

“Since  we  now have multiple years of data on HAI, trends are beginning to emerge  that  validate  and  enhance  efforts to decrease the occurrence of these  infections,”  said  Dr. Benjamin Chan, State Epidemiologist at DHHS. “Overall,  our hospitals are doing better than the national average and our ambulatory  surgical centers are on par with the rest of the country. While this  is  reassuring,  our goal is to continually improve and these reports will help with that.”

Overview: Manchester Hospitals fared as well or better than predicted

Overall,  there  were  fewer  observed  infections  than  predicted  in New Hampshire  hospitals  compared  with national data. A total of 219 HAI were reported  by hospitals in 2014, compared with 183 in 2013, 198 in 2012, 110 in  2011,  114  in  2010,  and  134  in  2009.  There  was  a statistically significant  increase  for  overall  HAI  between  the  first  year of data presented in this report, 2010, and the most recent reporting period, 2014.

However,  this  pattern was not seen between each individual year from 2010
to  2014.  Many factors may have contributed to this pattern, including the addition  of  new  and expanded reporting requirements in 2012. The overall observed  number  of  HAI  in hospitals in New Hampshire was 15 percent lower than predicted  based  on  national  data;  there  were  also  39 percent fewer central line-associated   bloodstream infections  and  22 percent  fewer  surgical  site infections  than predicted. There were 26 percent more catheter-associated urinary tract  infections  than predicted, but this difference is not statistically significant   and   the   number   of  infections  observed  is  considered statistically similar to national data.

Statewide  hospital adherence to four infection prevention practices during central line insertions was 98.3 percent a slight but insignificant decrease from 2013  (98.4 percent).  The  overall  healthcare  personnel  influenza  vaccination coverage  in  hospitals  was  93.5 percent, which has been significantly improving since 2008 and exceeds the Healthy People 2020 goal of 90 percent.

Ambulatory Surgery Centers:

Overall,  statewide  infection  rates  in  ASC are similar in comparison to national  data.  A  total of four surgical site infections were reported by ASC  for  2014,  compared  with  six in 2013 and four in 2012.  The overall observed  number  of  surgical site infections in New Hampshire ASC was 64 percent fewer  than  predicted  based on national data; however, this difference is not  significant  and is considered statistically similar to national data.

Statewide,  ASC  adherence  to  intravenous  antibiotic  prophylaxis timing guidelines  to prevent surgical site infection was 98.4 percent (similar to 2013), and  the  overall healthcare personnel influenza vaccination rate was 85.7 percent (a  slight but insignificant decrease from last year, during which the rate was 88.7 percent).

The  collection  of the data is intended to be a tool for hospitals and ASC to  track their progress and identify areas that require special attention, for  DHHS  to  see  where  improvements  can  be  made,  and to help inform consumers.

For questions  about  the  report,  data  presented, or to learn more about the
Healthcare-Associated  Infections (HAI) Program please call 603-271-4496 or
email haiprogram@dhhs.state.nh.us.


 

Healthcare Associated Infections Report 2014 Hospital

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!