Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Florida, has partnered with several hospitals in the state of Florida, including The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH), to help reduce rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). In fact, the intensive care unit at TVRH has been involved in this initiative since 2011.
The results are in and it was found that CAUTI and CLABSI rates at TVRH have been greatly improved. The hospital’s intensive care unit has gone 9 months without a single CLABSI incident and its CAUTI rate as of June, 2014 was less than ¼ of what it was a year ago.
“The team work in the intensive care unit at TVRH has been fantastic,” says Brit Watts, Corporate Director of Quality for Central Florida Health Alliance. “Having zero CAUTI and CLABSI events is our goal. The staff has certainly worked hard for our patients in making this a reality.”
In recognition of these accomplishments, HSAG representatives from Tampa traveled to The Villages to present the team with a plaque commemorating their success.
“HSAG has been very impressed with the efforts of TVRH regarding the reductions of both CLABSI and CAUTI,” says Rick Welsh, RN, CPHQ, Lead HAI Quality Specialist. “It’s well known that as the patient population ages, the risk of these infections increase. This makes TVRH’s efforts in reducing these infections even more impressive.”
The mindset across the country regarding hospital-acquired infections has changed. It was once believed that these infections were inevitable – not that every patient would develop one, but that some number would, and that it was not preventable.
“Having no CLABSI occurrences in almost a year is fantastic and our CAUTI reduction is some of the best movement seen compared to all HSAG engagements,” concludes Watts. “The team at The Villages Regional Hospital has shown it can offer care that matches the best in the country.”
