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GAO report says 23 states now require public reporting of HAIs

Infection Control Weekly Monitor, October 8, 2008

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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has turned its spotlight on hospitals’ efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAI).

Twenty-three states have now established mandatory public reporting systems on HAIs, according to a report released October 2 by the GAO. Most states designed their reporting programs to focus on a few measures developed or endorsed by the CDC and a majority have chosen to adopt the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network to collect data. When it comes to the MDRO that has gained the most public attention recently, only three states collect data on MRSA infections.

The GAO also reviewed a sample of 14 hospitals and healthcare systems with MRSA-reduction initiatives. All use routine testing for MRSA, although they chose different patient populations to test and used various test methodologies, the GAO said. These hospitals reported changing their general IC policies and practices as part of their respective initiatives—with all 14 making changes in hand hygiene compliance and more than half making changes to their contact precautions or disinfection of environmental surfaces.

To read the report “Healthcare-Associated Infections in Hospitals: An Overview of State Reporting Programs and Individual Hospital Initiatives to Reduce Certain Infections” click here.

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