Remote Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Surveillance
Infection Control Results is a consulting firm that specializes in remote surveillance of HAIs. Through remote evaluation of patient electronic health records, we determine whether a patient has an HAI according to National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) criteria.
Hospital Acquired Infections Statistics
Every day, an average of 1 in 25 hospital patients around the United States contracts at least one health-care associated infection. Early recognition of HAIs is important to prevent a potential outbreak and to identify potential areas for improvement, which benefits patients and allows the facility to maximize CMS reimbursement. Let’s take a look at a few hospital acquired infections statistics from the CDC below:
- Central line bloodstream infections (CLABSI) increased by 24 percent with 50 percent being in the ICU.
- Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) increased by 10 percent in the ICU.
- Ventilator associated events (VAE) increased by 35 percent with 34 percent in the ICU and 60 percent in the ward.
- Hospital onset MRSA bacteremia increased by 15 percent
- Surgical site infections decreased by 5 percent
- C. difficile decreased by 11 percent
*All CDC statistics are from 2019 to 2020.
How Can ICR Help With the Surveillance of Hospital Acquired Infections?
Our approach to remote surveillance can help increase identification of hospital acquired infections by remotely evaluating patient EMRs while helping hospitals meet CMS guidelines for Medicare reimbursement. We evaluate patient files from a third-party perspective to help bring transparency while files are kept secure according to HIPAA laws. Our surveillance specializes in evaluating each potential HAI, the factors surrounding infection, and how to manage the prevention and control of hospital acquired infections.
An Outside Perspective
Most healthcare professionals understand that surveillance systems allowing the evaluation of HAIs and antimicrobial resistance contribute to detecting HAIs early, thereby giving institutions the knowledge needed to uphold further prevention and control of hospital acquired infections. Healthcare facilities benefit from having an outside perspective, especially during times of short staffing, infection preventionists are urgently needed for other issues, and when infections are suspected. ICR review includes:
- Getting permission to review patient records remotely
- Collaborating with the facility to develop a notification system
- Using NHSN surveillance criteria for HAI identification
- Following the facility’s surveillance plan
- The facility maintains control over their data:
- Findings are submitted to the facility for review
- The facility will enter HAI data into NHSN after review
Remote Surveillance
Remote surveillance identifies and documents past, current, and potential HAIs in order for healthcare institutions to prevent them in the future. Using NHSN criteria for evaluation, ICR assists hospitals in reporting HAIs. Healthcare institutions benefit by having your infection preventionist attend to more pressing matters, such as practice improvements or healthcare personnel education. We will help you to meet state and federal reporting deadlines and assist with data analysis, as desired.
Personalized Planning
Infection Control Results provides systematic and actionable data personalized to particular healthcare settings, and populations. The data is tracked to detect patterns in the types and rates of hospital acquired infections. Because of this, emerging threats are targeted enabling the following institutions to be relieved of the burdens associated with healthcare acquired infections:
- Nursing Homes: There are over 15,400 general care nursing homes in the United states today to include both public and private institutions.
Acute Care Hospitals: Acute care hospitals range in size from small critical access facilities to large teaching institutions. Hospitals can offer a range of services or specialize such as eye, ear, and nose hospitals. - Acute and Long-Term Specific Care Facilities: The patients in these facilities may be utilizing rehab or have a particular requirement like memory care.
Working With Infection Control Results
To learn more about how Infection Control Results can help your healthcare facility keep your patients protected from HAIs, call us today at 704-207-7046 or request a consultation at the link below.