Wednesday, July 24, 2002, 16:03 EDT (4:03 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00088-2002-07-24-UPD-N
The Chicago Tribune is publishing a
series of articles on healthcare-associated infections. These articles draw
much attention to a problem that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and its partners in public health and healthcare have been addressing
vigorously. CDC believes that preventing
healthcare-associated infections is a critical component of the Department of
Health and Human Services - patient safety improvement initiative. Our goal is to eliminate threats to patient
safety and ensure the highest quality healthcare for all Americans.
Since you may receive questions, we
are sending you the steps that the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion,
The mission of the Division of Healthcare
Quality Promotion (DHQP) is to protect patients and healthcare personnel and to
promote quality of healthcare. In order
to accomplish its mission, DHQP is developing a new internet-based knowledge
system called the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Two main aspects of the network are reporting
of adverse events, including healthcare-associated infections, and
disseminating information on preventing such events. Disseminating information on prevention
strategies and data on reported adverse events is a critical part of the
network. This network is an expansion
and enhancement of current surveillance and monitoring capabilities (e.g,
National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System - NNIS). The network will be
compatible with the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS).
When NHSN is fully implemented, any healthcare facility will be eligible to
participate. The implementation of the NHSN is part of a larger federal
response to patient safety, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (AHRQ), CDC, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In addition to NHSN, DHQP is
addressing healthcare safety through its seven challenges, priorities it has
identified to reduce healthcare-associated infections and other adverse events
(http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/challenges.htm
). In order to accomplish these goals, DHQP has been involved in
several prevention projects through collaborations with state and federal
partners and universities. Some
collaborations include the Prevention Epicenter Program, the Chicago
Antimicrobial Resistance Project, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative,
and the Iowa Department of Public Health Patient Safety Program. All the projects focus on prevention of
healthcare-associated infections and promotion of patient safety.
DHQP has also produced educational
materials (e.g., video conferences, slide sets, etc) for facilities to use to
educate providers about prevention strategies and has launched a campaign to
Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in healthcare settings (http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/healthcare).
We invite your agencies to engage in
the effort to eliminate threats to patient safety and promote healthcare
safety.
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- Health Advisory: Provides important information for a specific incident or situation; may not require immediate action. Example: HAN00316
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- Info Service: Provides general information that is not necessarily considered to be of an emergent nature. Example: HAN00319
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