Infection Control Today Magazine

Quality Improvement

National Quality Forum Endorses SSI and UTI Measures Developed by ACS

Two outcomes-based measures from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) were recently endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF). The two measures, surgical site infection (SSI) and urinary tract infection (UTI), were ...More
2 days ago
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Regional Surgical Quality Collaborative Significantly Improves Surgical Outcomes and Reduces Cost

A new study published online today in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds hospitals participating in a regional collaborative of the American College of Surgeon's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), achieved substantial improvements ...More
3 weeks ago
Posted in News
Cost Control Incentives Don't Affect Patient Outcomes When Quality Variables are Implemented

Among physicians and hospital administrators, the phrase "pay for performance," or “P4P,” is often heard as the government and health insurers increasingly try to tie reimbursement for services to how well doctors and hospitals control their costs. However, until now it’s ...More
October 26, 2011
Posted in News
Pediatric Hospitals Save Lives With Central Line Hygiene and Maintenance

Following some basic rules of central line hygiene and maintenance, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 87 other pediatric hospitals have, over five years, saved hundreds of patient lives and more than $100 million by preventing nearly 3,000 central line-related bloodstream ...More
September 16, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Checklist Program Reduces Infections, Saves Lives and Money

A quality improvement program that saves lives by dramatically reducing potentially lethal bloodstream infections in hospital intensive-care units across the state of Michigan also saves those hospitals an average of $1.1 million a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. ...More
August 22, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare Aims to Reduce Risk of Wrong-Site Surgery

Healthcare professionals and patients all agree that wrong-site surgery is a serious and preventable adverse event that should never happen. Although reporting is not mandatory in most states, some estimates put the national incidence rate, which includes wrong patient, ...More
June 29, 2011
Posted in News
Up to $500 Million in Affordable Care Act Funding Will Help Health Providers Improve Care

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that up to $500 million in Partnership for Patients funding will be available to help hospitals, healthcare provider organizations and others improve care and stop millions of preventable injuries and ...More
June 22, 2011
Posted in News
AAMI Offers Sterile Processing Benchmarking Tool

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has developed a new tool that will help sterile processing departments measure their performance against similar departments across the country. Sterile Processing Benchmarks addresses a gaping need in ...More
June 7, 2011
Posted in News, Disinfection & Sterilization
Checklists, Culture of Accountability are Reinvigorating the Patient Safety Movement

The use of a medical or surgical checklist is now a familiar activity for many healthcare professionals, but experts are asking if they are impacting patient outcomes and contributing to patient safety in a meaningful way. And now, the data from a new study are indicating ...More
April 18, 2011
Posted in Articles
Ondine to Participate in Vancouver General Hospital Infection Control Quality Improvement Project

Ondine Biomedical Inc. announces that it has agreed to supply Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) with Ondine's MRSAid™ Photodisinfection System for nasal pathogen decolonization as part of a 13-month infection control quality improvement project (QIP) being conducted at the ...More
April 15, 2011
Posted in News