Hospital-related infections drop under California initiative

The goal: Cut costs and save lives by preventing hospital-related infections from taking root. 'We're definitely making progress,' says a doctor in Newport Beach.
Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
August 23, 2011

Scores of California hospitals, under pressure to reduce infections that kill an estimated 12,000 patients every year, say they have managed to cut costs and save lives through an initiative that has nurses and doctors redoubling efforts to prevent deadly germs from taking root...

...Since its launch 19 months ago, the initiative is credited with cutting ventilator-associated pneumonia 41%. Urinary tract infections related to catheters fell 24% last year, and cases of blood poisoning dropped 11%. The lower rates have saved an estimated $11 million in healthcare costs.
the rest

"We know we can prevent many of these infections by doing some very simple things," said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, who oversees efforts to combat the problem for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

...Then doctors picked up a valuable tip from other hospitals to improve oral care: Enlist respiratory therapists to help keep deadly bacteria from building up in patients' mouths, potentially leading to pneumonia.

The therapists began swabbing patients' mouths with hydrogen peroxide four times a day, supplementing the work of nurses who already were brushing patients' teeth with an antibacterial solution twice a day.

The hospital said the extra effort has paid off: It has not recorded a single case of ventilator-associated pneumonia since December, down from 18 in the one-year period before that.