MRSA Cases Dropping in Hospital ICUs
from U.S. News & World Report
 Blood infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have dropped significantly in hospital intensive care units, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. More
Ohio Hospitals Unite in Infection Fight
from The Columbus Dispatch
Clostridium difficile, the sometimes-lethal intestinal bacteria that have become increasingly common and more virulent, are the target of a new prevention effort by a consortium of Ohio hospitals. More than 50 hospitals have volunteered to track C. diff infections for 18 months while working to lower the incidence, Ohio Hospital Association spokeswoman Tiffany Himmelreich recently said.
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President Signs Economic Recovery Package
from AHA News Now
President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at a ceremony in Denver. Approved by Congress last week, the legislation temporarily increases federal funding for Medicaid by nearly $87 billion and requires states to maintain current program eligibility. It also increases state disproportionate share hospital allotments by 2.5 percent, extends AHA-backed moratoria on certain Medicare and Medicaid regulations, and urges the Secretary of Health and Human Services not to promulgate Medicaid rules concerning cost-limits for public hospitals, graduate medical education and rehabilitative services. More
ASHES Announces Second CHESP Online Study Group
from ASHES
You can now study with your colleagues from all over the nation in an online educational environment. This six week online study group is designed as a self-paced course, which means you are responsible for logging into the course and completing the material. CHESP candidates or potential candidates will collaborate, interact, review material, and ultimately, help each other prepare for the Exam. Register today by completing the CHESP Online Study Group registration form. Registration closes on Monday, March 30, 2009 for the second study group of the year. The study group will begin on Monday, April 6, 2009.
Washington Hospitals Adopting Consistent Colors
from The Seattle Times
Hospitals in Washington state plan to implement procedures for isolation precautions, which uses colors on patient-room doors to indicate an infection like MRSA. These universal isolation precautions are intended to help stop the spread of infections.
This is part of new state-wide initiative to adopt new communication safety measures. For example, a “code-blue” will now mean cardiac arrest in hospitals throughout the state.
This change was proposed after a survey found that at least eight different codes were used when a patient’s heart stopped. With staff turnover rates and some employees working at multiple facilities, different codes caused confusion.
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States Consider Requiring Hospitals to Screen for MRSA
from American Medical News
The rate of patients entering the hospital with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus increased eightfold between 1999 and 2006. Politicians in statehouses around the country say hospitals need to take a more active approach to stopping MRSA's spread. More
Who's to Blame for an HAI?
from OSHA Health Advisor
Infection preventionists are feeling pressure from all angles. New CMS policies are cutting hospital reimbursement. Hospital administrators are expecting the resources they put into IC programs will result in a drop in healthcare-acquired infection rates. Plus the public wants to be assured they will be safe when entering a hospital.
This week on OSHA Healthcare Advisor, infection control expert Peggy Luebbert, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, CHSP, owner and consultant for Healthcare Interventions, Inc., Omaha, NE, addresses these pressures and the affect HAIs will have on the healthcare industry and the profession.
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Good News, Bad News in Super-staph Study
from Chicago Tribune
Drug-resistant staph infections are more common in Illinois hospital patients than previously thought, according to new data from the Illinois Hospital Association.
But medical centers may not be to blame: The overwhelming majority of hospital patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, were already infected before being admitted, the data suggests. More
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