Oregon Announces First HAI Report

The Office of Oregon Health Policy Research (OHPR) has released a new report that compares healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) rates at 58 healthcare facilities statewide. According to the report, an analysis conducted on Oregon hospitals from 2003 through 2005 estimated that the average cost per stay is $32,000 higher for a patient with an HAI. In addition, the estimated excess cost in Oregon for all payers of HAIs exceeded $15 million in 2005.

In response to the importance of HAIs, the Oregon state legislature passed House Bill 2524 in 2007 to create a mandatory HAI Reporting Program in an effort to raise awareness, promote transparency for healthcare consumers and to motivate hospitals to prioritize prevention. HB 2524 assigned responsibility for the HAI Reporting Program to the OHPR and also created a 16-member advisory committee to advise OHPR on the HAI reporting program. This is the first annual report on HAIs for Oregon under the Oregon HAI Reporting Program and focuses on several infections including central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), surgical site infections (SSIs), and infections related to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

This report contains state- and hospital-level data for 2009 for the following measures:

-- SSIs associated with knee replacement surgeries

-- SSIs associated with CABG

-- CLABSIs for medical, surgical and medical/surgical intensive care units (ICUs)

-- Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) process of care measures, which are process measures that show adherence to best practices to reduce complications including infections during surgery

A total of 199 infections were identified through the reporting program in 2009 in Oregon hospitals. Findings include:

-- The Oregon infection rate for CLABSIs in non-specialty ICUs is 1.2 infections per 1,000 central line days, about 38 percent lower than the national average of 1.92 infections per 1,000 central line days.

-- The Oregon knee replacement SSI rate is 0.82 percent, which is similar to the national rate of 0.89 percent.

-- The Oregon coronary bypass graft SSI rate is 2.01 percent, about 30 percent less than the national rate of 2.86 percent.

-- Of the two SSIs measures, it appears that the risk for infection is higher for coronary artery bypass graft (2.01 percent) versus knee replacement (0.82 percent) procedures. This difference is expected, as we assume that in general patients that are undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery are in poorer health and more susceptible to infections than those undergoing knee replacement surgeries.

In addition to this report for 2010, OHPR will provide updated facility and state level HAI rates in late fall 2010 and on a quarterly basis in 2011, which will include expansion of measures to evaluate HAI prevention efforts in the state. To access the report, CLICK HERE.