|
Aggressive screening of patients can allow hospitals to proactively identify some of the most dangerous bugs before they can spread to other patients. Although expensive, this screening process is proving to be extremely effective in identifying and isolating patients with contagious infections. Surveillance efforts suggest that implementing this type of screening process is preventing enough costly infections to pay for itself. Supported with statistics and actual cost savings this article is a must read for any Infection Control Practitioner.
Several hospitals say the efforts made to screen patients with new tests, though expensive, is paying off. Because of these tests, hospitals can quickly isolate patients carrying various disease strains to help prevent its spread.
For example, in Newark Beth Israel Medical Center's intensive-care unit, six months of testing every patient entering the hospital showed that the new tracking regime has helped it cut down new infections by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus bacteria to nearly zero. The proportion of intensive-care patients carrying the bug also dropped from 33% to 10%.
In another similar example, surveillance efforts at the University of Maryland Medical Center says early results suggest it is preventing enough costly infections to pay for itself.
Staph infections are common in health-care settings, from which an estimated 5,000 people die every year. The spread of drug-resistant strains can quickly become deadly in patients whose immune systems are already under strain, and unfortunately, is particularly worrisome because they are difficult to treat.
Up from 2% in the mid-1970's, Methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) has become increasingly common, now making up more than 60% of all hospital staph infections in recent years. 126,000 people are hospitalized with MRSA infections each year, which comes with an annual price tag totaling $4 billion as estimated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read More
|
Articles 