AHRQ Projects to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections, Fiscal Year 2011

AHRQ Awards $34 Million To Expand Fight Against Healthcare-Associated Infections
AHRQ announced that it has awarded $34 million in fiscal year 2011 for grants and contracts to hospitals, academic medical institutions, and health care research organizations to expand the fight against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). These awards include projects to develop, test and spread the use of new modules of the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP), a proven method to prevent and reduce HAIs.  Since 2008, AHRQ has been promoting the nationwide adoption of CUSP to reduce central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs).  The new modules target three additional types of infections that are also areas of focus for the Partnership for Patients:
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the most common HAI, which can occur in patients with urinary catheters.Surgical site infections, a complication of surgery that can occur at the incision site or deeper within the body.Ventilator-associated pneumonia, which can occur in patients who require mechanically assisted breathing and, as a result, have a higher risk of developing health care-associated pneumonia.  This new module will be pilot tested in two States with funding from the HHS Office of Healthcare Quality.   

Other newly funded projects include research on ways of reducing infections from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium that is resistant to certain antibiotics, and from Clostridium difficile, an organism that often affects patients on prolonged antibiotic treatment; using health care facility design to reduce HAIs; and aligning work system factors to maximize and sustain successful HAI reduction efforts.  A novel 36-month project will synthesize the results of AHRQ-funded HAI projects in fiscal years 2007-2010.  The goals of the project are to identify and promote the application of effective HAI prevention approaches and to identify gaps in the science base that can be filled with additional research.  AHRQ is also continuing to fund research on HAIs in long-term care, dialysis facilities and ambulatory care.  Select for a complete list of the projects funded in fiscal year 2011 and select to read our press release.
AHRQ Projects to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections, Fiscal Year 2011

AHRQ Awards $34 Million To Expand Fight Against Healthcare-Associated Infections