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Partnerships

Reductions in Healthcare-associated Infections

CDC and its public health partners have significantly influenced hospital infection control practices nationwide. Bloodstream infections associated with a central line (a type of venous catheter) are among the most common type of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), with an estimated 250,000 cases reported in US hospitals each year. However, in several states around the country, these HAIs have been reduced by as much as 66%–70%. Seeing a national reduction of two-thirds of bloodstream infections could translate into as many as 180,000 fewer HAIs and $4–$6 billion in health care cost savings.

In recent years, CDC and its partners have worked to ensure that more health care facilities have been following CDC’s guidelines and recommendations in support of CDC’s Health Protection Goal of Healthy People in Healthy Places:

• Among hospitals participating in the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, the rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections decreased by 40%–50% among patients in intensive care units (ICUs) during the last decade. Rates also decreased by 50% in most major ICUs for the subset of central line-associated bloodstream infections associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
• CDC collaborated with the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative to target a common type of HAI—catheter-associated bloodstream infections—that occur in ICUs. The Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections Prevention Strategy included educational models and standardized tools for hospital staff and comparison data for participating hospitals. The intervention was implemented in 32 hospitals and 66 ICUs in southwestern Pennsylvania. After four years, the 32 participating hospitals were able to collectively reduce their blood stream infection rates among patients in their ICUs by 68%. This intervention has been replicated elsewhere with similar reductions in HAIs.
• In Michigan, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded the Keystone Initiative that resulted in a 70% decline of central-line associated bloodstream infections when CDC guidelines were fully implemented. The dramatic reductions in serious ICU infections prompted replication of these efforts in hospitals across the country.
• Several states using the National Healthcare Safety Network for mandated reporting of healthcare-associated infections have identified prevention of bloodstream infections as a priority. For example, by adopting safety and prevention practices, infection rates in New York have declined more than 70% in ICUs participating in the Greater New York Hospital Association Prevention Collaborative.

CDC plans to build on these successes in reducing bloodstream infections by developing and implementing similar strategies for reducing other healthcare-associated infections.

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