Stop Hospital Infections http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:32:14 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Raise your hand if you've had a hospital-acquired infection More people know about hospital acquired infections and medical errors than you might think, and not just from watching Oprah.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/raise_your_hand_if_youve_had_a.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/raise_your_hand_if_youve_had_a.html Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:32:14 -0600 Watch these personal stories -- Quality Care Saves Lives! I’d like to point you to four brave patients, who debuted their videos to lawmakers at the Massachusetts State House and encouraged them to take an active role to improve patient safety.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/watch_these_personal_stories_q.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/watch_these_personal_stories_q.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:50:44 -0600 Medical Mistakes show on Oprah Did you catch the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday about medical mistakes? She featured actor Dennis Quaid who recalled the series of hospital errors that nearly killed his newborn twins after they were given one thousand times the amount of the blood-thinning drug Heparin—twice.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/medical_mistakes_show_on_oprah_1.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/03/medical_mistakes_show_on_oprah_1.html Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:49:59 -0600 Drop in some MRSA infections in ICUs A new JAMA study confirms what we’ve been saying all along: public reporting of hospital infections leads to reduction of infections!

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/02/drop_in_some_mrsa_infections_i.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/02/drop_in_some_mrsa_infections_i.html Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:03:18 -0600 Former skeptic believes in preventing hospital infections A few years ago, Dr. Manoj Jain was skeptical of hospital infection reduction—thinking hospital infections were the norm for ICU patients

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/02/former_skeptic_believes_in_pre.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/02/former_skeptic_believes_in_pre.html Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:09:27 -0600 Seattle PI: U.S. pigs and farmers carry MRSA but federal food safety agencies are doing little to see if the pork is safe Seattle PI reports on a new study that found pigs and workers on several Midwestern farms are colonized with MRSA.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/seattle_pi_us_pigs_and_farmers_1.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/seattle_pi_us_pigs_and_farmers_1.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:49:01 -0600 CMS decisions on non-payment for surgical errors It's official. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will no longer pay for surgery in which certain “never events” occur: wrong surgery, wrong patient, wrong body part.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/cms_decisions_on_nonpayment_fo.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/cms_decisions_on_nonpayment_fo.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:07:56 -0600 Patients Right to Know Colorado Citizens for Accountability has launched its new patient safety website: PatientsRightToKnow.org. It contains a U.S. map where you can find out what physician background reporting is available in your state.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/patients_right_to_know.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/patients_right_to_know.html Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:00:53 -0600 HHS releases plan to prevent health care-associated infections This week the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released its “Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections” which sets five-year prevention targets for six major types of infection. Such as (from Table 1):

• A 30% reduction in C. difficile
• A 25% reduction in urinary catheter infections
• A 50% reduction in MRSA infections

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/hhs_releases_plan_to_prevent_h.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/hhs_releases_plan_to_prevent_h.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:53:18 -0600 20 Things You Didn't Know About…Hygiene Here’s one thing you might not know: On average, doctors and nurses clean their hands between patients only 50% of the time.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/20_things_you_didnt_know_about.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2009/01/20_things_you_didnt_know_about.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:38:08 -0600 Fund the Texas hospital infection reporting law In 2007, the Texas legislature had a brilliant idea. They passed a law that required the Texas Department of State Health Services to make public health care acquired infection rates for several surgical procedures and bloodstream infections in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and children’s hospitals by no later than June 1, 2008.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/12/fund_the_texas_hospital_infect.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/12/fund_the_texas_hospital_infect.html Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:58:24 -0600 MRSA series: Culture of Resistance The Seattle Times’ new three-part series on MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant superbug that’s killing thousands of hospital patients every year made me want to wash my hands over and over like Lady Macbeth.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/11/mrsa_series_culture_of_resista_1.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/11/mrsa_series_culture_of_resista_1.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:03:04 -0600 "I don't want to die (in the hospital)" While he may not be singing about hospital infections specifically, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band humorously assemble the jolting anxiety we’d feel as a hospital patient trying to get out...

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/11/i_dont_want_to_die_in_the_hosp.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/11/i_dont_want_to_die_in_the_hosp.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:05:30 -0600 Old Blood for Halloween Patients given blood transfusions of blood stored 29 days or longer are twice as likely to get a hospital-acquired infection as those receiving newer blood, according to researchers at Cooper University Hospital in New Jersey.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/10/old_blood_for_halloween.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/10/old_blood_for_halloween.html Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:46:51 -0600 Mother against medical error Helen Haskell, founder of Mothers Against Medical Error (MAME), became a patient safety advocate after her 15 year old son died from a medical error in 2000. Watch her story.

]]> http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/10/mother_against_medical_error.html http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/10/mother_against_medical_error.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:48:13 -0600