Date: April 14, 2010

Infections Not Falling

BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Published: April 14, 2010

WASHINGTON - The nation's hospitals are failing to protect patients from potentially fatal infections despite years of prevention campaigns, the government said Tuesday.

The Health and Human Services department's 2009 quality report to Congress found "very little progress" on eliminating hospital-acquired infections and called for "urgent attention" to address the shortcomings - first brought to light a decade ago.

Of five major serious hospital-related infections, rates of illnesses increased for three, one showed no progress, and one showed a decline. As many as 98,000 people a year die from medical errors, and preventable infections - along with medication mixups- are a big part of the problem.

Such medical missteps will have financial consequences under President Barack Obama's new health care overhaul law. Starting in a few years, Medicare payments to hospitals will be reduced for preventable readmissions and for certain infections that can usually be staved off with good nursing care.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the report "a pretty clear diagnosis of some of the gaps and shortcomings in our nation's health care system."

Although the U.S. spends about $2.5 trillion a year on medical care, patients often don't receive the care recommended for their particular condition. Generally, patients are more likely to receive optimal care in a hospital as compared to an outpatient facility. The quality report was accompanied by a second study that found continuing shortfalls in quality of care for minorities and low-income people, particularly the uninsured.

The bleak statistics were a disappointment for officials. It's been more than 10 years since the Institute of Medicine launched a crusade to raise awareness about medical errors and encourage providers to systematically reduce and, if possible, eliminate them.

The hospital industry said it was disappointed by the findings but hopes the next round of studies will show improvement. Some recent efforts to reduce infections may not yet be reflected in the data, industry officials said.

Troubling Trends

According to the Health and Human Services report, in 2009:

• Rate of bloodstream infections after surgery increased by 8 percent.
• Urinary infections from the use of a catheter after surgery increased by 3.6 percent.
• The overall incidence for a series of common infections due to medical care increased by 1.6 percent.
• There was no change in bloodstream infections due to central venous catheters – tubes placed in the neck, chest or groin to administer medications, drain fluids or collect blood samples.
• Rates of pneumonia after surgery dropped by 12 percent, the one bright spot.