Preventing Health Care–Associated Infections Through Implementation of an Interprofessional Visual Management Safety Tracker.

Background: The management of health care associated infections (HAIs) challenges acute care facilities due to variability in practices. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to decrease central line–associated bloodstream infection, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, and Clostridioides difficile infection in a high acuity care environment using a visual management (VM) tool to address practice variations. Local Problem: An acute care unit experienced increasing HAIs. Methods: An interprofessional team used Lean methodology to implement a VM tool reflective of evidence-based HAI prevention practices that staff had frequently omitted. Interventions: A VM tool called the Safety Tracker was created. Results: In 12 months, HAIs decreased from 9 events to 1, with a corresponding reduction in indwelling urinary catheter utilization and central line utilization. More than $160 000 were avoided in health care costs. Conclusions: Creating an interprofessional VM Safety Tracker could significantly reduce HAIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]