News: Five-year analysis shows 21% decline in hospital-acquired conditions

Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell 91% and post-op venous thromboembolisms fell by 76%, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) recent report “National Scorecard on Rates of Hospital-Acquired Conditions 2010 to 2015: Interim Data From National Efforts To Make Health Care Safer.” Overall, hospital-acquired conditions (HAC) dropped by 21% since 2010 for a cumulative total of 3.1 million fewer HACs, 125,000 fewer related deaths, and an estimated $28 billion in healthcare savings.

The annual analysis doesn’t point to any particular cause for the decline but does suggest “likely contributing causes” include:

• Financial incentives created by CMS and private insurers’ payment policies
• Public reporting of hospital-level results
• Technical assistance from Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO)
• Technical assistance and “catalytic efforts” of the pay-for-performance initiatives led by CMS

AHRQ pointed to the implementation of electronic health records as an example of a variety of other initiatives implemented throughout healthcare to improve quality and patient safety in the same time period that may have also led to the dramatic decline in HACs.

“Despite the progress to date in reducing HACs, much work remains to be done to ensure that the U.S. healthcare system is as safe as it can possibly be,” the report states.