Report: Hospital-Acquired Infections Declining in Colorado

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recently released its fifth annual report for the state legislature regarding health facility-acquired infections, which can be found in PDF format at its website. Here are details from the report.

* Health facility-acquired infections are infections that were not present when the patient was admitted to the health care facility. In 2006, the state of Colorado passed House Bill 06-1045, which requires health care facilities to report infections acquired through specific health care procedures and from the use of specific devices such as central lines and catheters.

* The report shows that overall infection rates in Colorado hospitals have declined by 44 percent and that the greatest decline was a 56 percent decrease in the number of infections acquired in neonatal intensive care units.

* The number of bloodstream infections acquired from central lines in Colorado health care facilities decreased by 45 percent over the past three years, which the CDPHE findings indicate could be an increased focus on the part of facilities to reduce infections since being required to report them.

* Though the overall number of hospital acquired infections is decreasing, an increase was seen in four years of reporting for the number of infections that happened during coronary artery bypass surgery, with 2.44 infections in every 100 procedures performed in 2010. A slight increase was seen in the number of infections from vaginal hysterectomies at Colorado health care facilities in 2009 and 2010 reports, with a little less than one infection per 100 procedures. Other procedures that are reported include hernia repair, hip replacement, abdominal hysterectomy and knee replacement. The infection rates for central lines and dialysis are also reported, as were neonatal critical care procedures.

* Health care facilities reporting an infection rates worse than the national average for 2010, the most recent year figures are given, include Gunnison Valley Hospital, with a rate of 8.8 infections for every procedure performed; and the Medical Center of Aurora, with 1.6 for every procedure performed. Overall, .8 of every 100 reportable procedures will result in an infection.

* Several facilities in Colorado rated worse than the national average in their number of dialysis related infections, including Boulder Dialysis Center, Commerce City Dialysis, Dialysis Clinic Inc in Grand Junction and Montrose, East Aurora Dialysis, FMC Dialysis Services in Denver, Fort Collins, La Junta, Lamar, Pueblo, and Pueblo South, Grand Junction Dialysis Center, Lakewood Crossing Dialysis Center, Lakewood Dialysis Center, Longmont Dialysis Center, Lowry Dialysis Center, Mesa County Dialysis, North Metro Dialysis Center, Parker Dialysis Center, and Westminster Dialysis Center. Colorado is the first state to require reporting of healthcare-acquired infections from dialysis centers.

* In a press release accompanying the report, CDPHE's executive director and chief medical officer said of the overall infection rates from health care facilities, "In all years reporting this data but one, Colorado hospitals are significantly better than the national mean."

* There are currently 259 hospitals, hospital units, ambulatory surgical centers and dialysis treatment clinics that report their infection data annually. Certain hospitals do not have to report this data to the health department because they do not have critical care units or do not perform reportable procedures.