Staying healthy in hospitals.Hospitalization hospitalization /hos·pi·tal·iza·tion/ (hos?pi-t'l-i-za´shun) 1. the placing of a patient in a hospital for treatment. 2. the term of confinement in a hospital. can be dangerous. As many as 10 percent of patients get an infection while in a hospital or other medical facility. These infections kill 90,000 people and cause $4.5 billion in excess health care costs annually. Fourteen states currently require hospitals to report "hospital-acquired infections Hospital-Acquired Infections Definition A hospital-acquired infection is usually one that first appears three days after a patient is admitted to a hospital or other health care facility. " (HAIs). Four types are usually targeted by reporting laws: pneumonia and infections at the surgical site, in the urinary tract and in the bloodstream. Pennsylvania released the first statewide report on infection rates in 2004. The state found that rates varied by hospital and region. It found that patients admitted for heart attacks had the highest propensity toward pneumonia and patients admitted for lung diseases represented the largest percentage of bloodstream infections. Many states took action after Pennsylvania released its information. By the end of 2006, 12 states--Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). , New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Pennsylvania, South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. , Virginia and Vermont--had laws mandating public reporting of HAI HAI Health Action International HAI Healthcare-Associated Infections HAI Helicopter Association International HAI Hospital Acquired Infection HAI Hemagglutination Inhibition (Immune assay type, microbiology) rates. Nebraska and Nevada require reporting the rates only to a state government agency. Some believe data on hospital-specific rates should not be made public. Hospitals have argued that definitions of infection and methods for counting make reports unreliable. While supporting HAI tracking for internal quality improvement, they often resist releasing the data to the public. But others believe reporting rates can help improve patient safety and restrain the costs of health care. Federal and state governments and private industry are working together to improve reporting and share approaches to reducing infection. The HAI Working Group at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. is set to release a tool kit for states and health care facilities facing reporting laws. It will be available at www.cdc.gov. |
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