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Study: Tracking catheter use key to stopping infections

Quality Improvement Monitor, January 11, 2008

Patients often remain on catheters needlessly, causing urinary tract infections that can be difficult to treat and life-threatening, according to a new study reported on in the Detroit Free Press.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections account for 40% of all hospital infections, the University of Michigan report said. But one third of hospitals in the study did not track catheter use on a daily basis, and three-fourths had no system to check how long patients were on catheters.

Prevention of the infections is critical to both patient safety and a hospital's bottom line. Beginning October 1, 2008, CMS will no longer pay for the treatment of catheter-associated urinary tract infections if they were not documented as present on admission.

The average Medicare payment for a catheter-associated urinary tract infection was $40,347 in fiscal 2006, the Free Press said.

Sanjay Saint, MD, lead author and director of the patient safety enhancement program, urged hospitalized patients who have a catheter to ask their doctor every day: "Do I still need it?" the paper reported.

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