When a medical complication has its own abbreviation you know it is too common. HAI stands for Hospital Associated Infection. According to the Center for Diseasae Control one in 25 hospital patients will be a victim of a hospital associated infection. In 2011 there were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in acute care hospitals in the United States. About 75,000 patients with HAIs died during their hospitalizations. More than half of all HAIs occured outside of the intensive care unit.
The increase in reporting statistics for hospitals has made it much easier for the general public to know what is going on with their local hospital. Information is readily available on line and accessible to the ordinary individual. Infection statistics, death rates, readmission stats, reviews by patients, and more is reported now. The old "fee for service" system of paying for a patient's care was oblivious to infections but the new value-based payment program penalizes hospitals for complications such as infection, readmission or, heaven forbid, death.
Faced with superbugs of every different ilk, hospitals are under terrific pressure to find ways to prevent hospital caused problems with their patients. The hospitals are definitely taking the problem seriously. Hand washing remains the single most effective thing a person can do to prevent infection. And that doesn't mean that just the patient is washing their hands frequently...it extends to everyone who walks into your room - visitors, doctors, nurses and aides, ministers, volunteers, and food service.
Also, hospitals know that the longer you are in the hospital, the greater your chance of contracting the bug of the day. Hence the pressure to get you up and out. Who can argue with that? Your own bed without a plastic mattress pad, enough salt in your grits, no one waking you every hour on the hour, no one whispering in the hall outside your bedroom. Ah, home sweet home.
The increase in reporting statistics for hospitals has made it much easier for the general public to know what is going on with their local hospital. Information is readily available on line and accessible to the ordinary individual. Infection statistics, death rates, readmission stats, reviews by patients, and more is reported now. The old "fee for service" system of paying for a patient's care was oblivious to infections but the new value-based payment program penalizes hospitals for complications such as infection, readmission or, heaven forbid, death.
Faced with superbugs of every different ilk, hospitals are under terrific pressure to find ways to prevent hospital caused problems with their patients. The hospitals are definitely taking the problem seriously. Hand washing remains the single most effective thing a person can do to prevent infection. And that doesn't mean that just the patient is washing their hands frequently...it extends to everyone who walks into your room - visitors, doctors, nurses and aides, ministers, volunteers, and food service.
Also, hospitals know that the longer you are in the hospital, the greater your chance of contracting the bug of the day. Hence the pressure to get you up and out. Who can argue with that? Your own bed without a plastic mattress pad, enough salt in your grits, no one waking you every hour on the hour, no one whispering in the hall outside your bedroom. Ah, home sweet home.
No comments:
Post a Comment