Medical Staff

State targets hospital-acquired infections

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, January 17, 2007

Massachusetts state officials plan to scrutinize hospital-acquired infections to lower their incidence and aim to make it mandatory for all hospitals in the state to report infection rates by 2008, according to a January 11 article in The Boston Globe.

The article states that hospitals are not required to report hospital-acquired infections to public health agencies, making it difficult for researchers to gauge how often such infections occur. Meanwhile, patient safety and public health specialists say that that hundreds of thousands of hospital patients contract infections annually through bacteria from catheters, incisions made during surgery, and by various other means.

Massachusetts Senator Richard T. Moore, chair of the state's Health Care Financing Committee, introduced the legislation that would require hospitals to report infection rates, according to The Globe.

To access the full article, click here.

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