Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections to be Focus of AVA Meeting

“Our conference will spotlight the latest trends and changing landscape in vascular access,” said AVA’s CEO Kathy McHugh, RN, BSN. “Infections that once were seen as inevitable are now seen as entirely preventable, and this is triggering enormous consequences for institutions with high infection rates. Those consequences include everything from costly lawsuits to lost reimbursements from payers, to patients shifting their patronage to hospitals that do the best job of prevention. Our conference’s focus on these issues – including exciting news about how to completely eliminate many infections – comes at a crucial time in the vascular access field.”

Vascular catheter-related infections are the subject of increasing public attention on several fronts:

-- Starting next month, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will cease reimbursing hospitals for certain hospital-associated conditions. These conditions include vascular catheter-related infections. Many private insurers are also cutting reimbursements for these infections.

-- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the rate of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), including vascular catheter-related infections, to be 5 percent to 19 percent of all hospital inpatient stays. A total of 2 million patients per year contract HAIs, and more than 90,000 of them die.

-- To date, 24 states – including New York, Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, and Ohio – have passed laws requiring that hospitals in their state disclose their rate of HAIs. Several more states are considering similar action.

-- Because they are now viewed as preventable, HAIs are expected to lead to a massive wave of class-action lawsuits.

McHugh will also be presenting at the conference. Her talk, “Business Strategies for Vascular Access Services,” makes the financial case for healthcare institutions contracting with outside vascular access services. The talk is designed to aid AVA members in marketing services to administrative leaders of their institutions as a strategy to eliminate CRBSI and other complications.