VHA Inc. Convenes Meeting of Industry Leaders to Address Hospital-Acquired Infections and MRSA.

12 Health Care Organizations Agree to Work Together to Reduce Hospital Staff Burden

IRVING, Texas -- Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) pose a major problem for today's medical community. These infections affect about 2 million patients annually and are responsible for an estimated 100,000 deaths. Over 120,000 hospital patients develop methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) infections in the United States each year, with the average treatment cost ranging between $27,000 to $34,000 per case. MRSA is only one of the many bacteria hospitals are working to eliminate.

Recognizing the growing need to confront this problem, VHA Inc., the national health care alliance, facilitated the formation of a group to address this issue comprehensively and 12 health care industry leaders have joined forces to find a better way to address HAIs and MRSA. The group aims to reduce the burden on hospital staff and other personnel and to develop common definitions, measurement, and reporting. In addition, the group will endorse evidence based approaches to control, treat and eliminate HAIs and MRSA. The initial organizations participating in this initiative are:

* Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 

* American Hospital Association 

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

* Infectious Diseases Society of America 

* Institute for Healthcare Improvement

* International Society of Microbial Resistance

* Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 

* National Quality Forum

* Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

* United States Department of Health and Human Services 

* Veterans Administration

* VHA Inc.

"This group will work together to raise awareness and to coordinate guidelines, processes and systems that will mean better health care practices in the future." said Ken Smithson, M.D., vice president at VHA Inc. "We've seen first-hand the power of working together to solve problems, and the amazing results that occur when people come together for a collective purpose and share ideas."

The group, which is expected to add other interested organizations, consists of national authorities on infection control, policymakers and other thought leaders. The American Hospital Association hosted the first meeting in Washington D.C., on November 21 and quarterly phone calls and face-to-face meetings will be held as needed. The group is currently developing action plans for 2007.

For more information about VHA's recently launched three-year campaign to fight hospital-acquired infections, especially MRSA, and other clinical programs, visit www.vha.com.

About VHA Inc. -- VHA Inc. is a national alliance of leading not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to improve the health of the communities they serve. VHA delivers industry- leading supply chain management services and enables regional and national member networks to improve clinical and operational performance, and drive sustainable results. Based in Irving, Texas, VHA has 18 local offices serving more than 2,400 health care organizations across the United States.