A targeted assessment for prevention strategy to decrease Clostridioides difficile infections in Veterans Affairs acute-care medical centers

A guideline for the prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in 127 Veterans Health Administration acute-care facilities was implemented in July 2012. Beginning in 2015, a targeted assessment for prevention strategy was used to evaluate facilities for hospital-onset healthcare-facility-associated CDIs to focus prevention efforts where they might have the most impact in reaching a reduction goal of 30% nationwide. We calculated standardized infection ratios (SIRs) and cumulative attributable differences (CADs) using a national data baseline. Facilities were ranked by CAD, and those with the 10 highest CAD values were targeted for periodic conference calls or a site visit from January 2016-September 2019. The hospital-onset healthcare-facility-associated CDI rate in the 10 facilities with the highest CADs declined 56% during the process improvement period, compared to a 44% decline in the 117 nonintervention facilities (P = .03). Process improvement interventions targeting facilities ranked by CAD values may be an efficient strategy for decreasing CDI rates in a large healthcare system.