Advance from prevention efforts to elimination of infections

There's no doubt healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) have significant impact in terms of healthcare spending and human suffering. Quantifying the impact and ensuring a reduction in incidents is a bit more difficult. For the past decade, Highmark Inc with 4.8 million members has been using a pay-for-performance program for physicians and hospitals called QualityBlue that includes 81 participating hospitals. Historically, public and private payers have been frustrated by the costs attributed to infections acquired in healthcare settings. A landmark study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002 estimated that one in 20 hospital patients were affected by an HAI, for a total of 1.7 million infections. In nearly 100,000 cases, the infection was fatal. Although hospitals have been working on infection reductions, the focus has shifted over the past few years to strive for the elimination of HAIs from the facilities, says Ahmad A. Mohammad, director of quality improvement for Kaiser Permanente's Fontana and Ontario medical centers.