Hospitals Utilize Infection Tracking Tools
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, which serves patients in Upstate New York, is partnering with participating hospitals to use information technology tools to monitor the rate of infections, particularly those that are contagious. Excellus published a news release detailing the expansion of this program to other participating hospitals, including a $5 million investment from the insurer
Excellus made arrangements with seven different hospitals to implement a program, MedMined from Cardinal Health, that tracks the incidence of both hospital and community-acquired infections. In addition, the program can spot emerging patterns of infection and outbreaks. The software then notifies infection control personnel. Strategies can then be implemented to reduce infection risks, including prevention efforts.
Infection control personnel note that the software program promotes efficiencies, reducing the paperwork burden. MedMined provides reports that include a list of any patient in the hospital who has a systemic or localized infection not present at admission; infections from previous hospitalizations are not included.
More importantly, initial efforts at the hospitals listed below have had successes secondary to use of MedMined; teams have identified infectious clusters in the hospitals, such as intravenous lines or catheters. The incidence of infections has decreased and unnecessary medical testing is less frequent. As well, the first year investment to install and deploy the solution has provided a return around 200 percent.
When such information is available, hygiene efforts are reviewed and modified, if needed. Hospitals participating in the effort include Arnot Ogden Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes, Rome Memorial Hospital, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, United Health Services in Johnson City, and Unity Hospital.
Similar efforts have been implemented at a number of VA Hospitals, as reported on Hospital Buyer, their solution was created by TheraDoc. Bio Surveillance, created by Clinical Solutions, is such a program that specifically supports resource management during infectious outbreaks.
November 9, 2007 Related topics: Infectious Diseases, Trends, Quality, Safety, Errors