APIC Position Paper Highlights Limitations in Administrative Data
October 20, 2010
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announces it has released a position paper titled, "The Use of Administrative (Coding/Billing) Data for Identification of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) in U.S. Hospitals," to help infection preventionists explain limitations inherent in the exclusive use of such data for identifying HAIs.
The paper points out that the exclusive use of administrative data is not a precise measure for identifying HAIs and does not facilitate real-time implementation of targeted prevention strategies. Additionally, the paper calls for the use of CDC/National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) standardized definitions.
