Study: Hospitals using IT surveillance to track infections

A new survey by healthcare alliance Premier Inc. suggests that a growing number of hospitals are using automated surveillance systems to detect and manage hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).  The survey, which addressed a wide range of infection-control within and without of the IT department, found that 22 percent of hospitals responding are using internal surveillance to catch HAIs, up from 13 percent in February 2006. Meanwhile, 47 percent of respondents are considering implementing such a system.

The respondents, who included more than 800 hospital clinicians involved in preventing infections, named catheter-associated urinary tract infections and pressure ulcers as the most difficult HAIs to treat among those CMS has named for non-payment in 2008.

To learn more about the survey:
- read this Premier press release
- read the survey results