Safe Healthcare

Safe Healthcare
Hosted by CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality PromotionPreventing Infections in Healthcare Settings
CDC: We don’t provide your healthcare – we make your healthcare safer.
March 10th, 2010 2:11 pm ET - Dr. Denise Cardo

Dr. Denise Cardo


Until a few years ago, adverse medical events were accepted by many as an unfortunate yet unavoidable part of modern medicine. Today, we recognize the significant impact we can have on improving patient and provider safety. We do this by enhancing infection prevention recommendations, tackling antimicrobial resistance, protecting the blood supply, and making the use of medical devices and medicines safer. We apply a public health model to monitor adverse events and medical errors. We then use these data to research and recommend infection prevention strategies that protect both patients and healthcare personnel. Ultimately, these efforts save lives.

I am extremely fortunate to lead a multidisciplinary group of exceptional scientists at CDC who are dedicated to improving healthcare quality. This team includes physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, pharmacists, laboratorians, statisticians, public health advisors, communicators, and behaviorists from a wide array of specialties. Our diverse backgrounds give our teams unique perspectives that allow us to take a pragmatic and comprehensive approach to our single common goal – making the U.S. healthcare system a safe place for patients and providers alike.

However, we cannot do this work alone. We collaborate closely with state and local health departments, other federal agencies, professional associations, patient advocates, and others. Everyone has a role to play.

In this blog series, we will introduce you to the science, the people, and the partners who passionately work to ensure healthcare safety. I hope you enjoy the commentary and find the resources to be valuable. Most of all, I hope you join in the conversation.

Safe Healthcare – It’s our responsibility, our mission…our priority.

Topics to be covered in this blog series
Acinetobacter infections
Antimicrobial resistance
Blood, organ and tissue safety
Clostridium difficile
Data for Action: NHSN
Gram-negative bacteria
Infection prevention guidelines
Injection safety
Healthcare-associated infections
Healthcare emergency preparedness
Laboratory testing
Medication safety
MRSA
Patient perspectives
Public reporting
Prevention research

open here please:
http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/