1. A targeted assessment for prevention strategy to decrease Clostridioides difficile infections in Veterans Affairs acute-care medical centers
- Author
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Gary A. Roselle, Martin E. Evans, Karen R Lipscomb, Brian P. McCauley, Loretta A. Simbartl, and Marla Clifton
- Subjects
Microbiology (medical) ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Epidemiology ,business.industry ,Psychological intervention ,MEDLINE ,Process improvement ,Guideline ,030501 epidemiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Infectious Diseases ,Acute care ,Emergency medicine ,medicine ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Veterans Affairs ,National data ,Clostridioides - Abstract
Objective:A guideline for the prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in 127 Veterans Health Administration acute-care facilities was implemented in July 2012. Beginning in 2015, a targeted assessment for prevention strategy was used to evaluate facilities for hospital-onset healthcare-facility–associated CDIs to focus prevention efforts where they might have the most impact in reaching a reduction goal of 30% nationwide.Methods:We calculated standardized infection ratios (SIRs) and cumulative attributable differences (CADs) using a national data baseline. Facilities were ranked by CAD, and those with the 10 highest CAD values were targeted for periodic conference calls or a site visit from January 2016–September 2019.Results:The hospital-onset healthcare-facility–associated CDI rate in the 10 facilities with the highest CADs declined 56% during the process improvement period, compared to a 44% decline in the 117 nonintervention facilities (P = .03).Conclusion:Process improvement interventions targeting facilities ranked by CAD values may be an efficient strategy for decreasing CDI rates in a large healthcare system.
- Published
- 2020
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