Rise in Hospital-acquired Infection Rates Attributed to Increased Reporting
More than 30,000 patients acquired infections at Pennsylvania hospitals in 2006, according to a report released by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4).
That is 60 percent higher than 2005, but the rise is misleading, PHC4 said. Beginning in 2006, hospitals were required to report all kinds of hospital-acquired infections, not just some of them. Hospitals also have gotten better at identifying and reporting infections.
The report includes infection rates for specific hospitals, which are listed alongside hospitals that treat similar numbers of patients and offer similar services.
The most accurate comparison is the final three months of 2005 and 2006 because the expanded requirements were phased in during the last six months of 2005. That analysis shows that infection rates dropped from 16.3 per 1,000 patients in 2005 to 15.1 per 1,000 patients in 2006.
Pennsylvania is one of five states that have produced reports on hospital infection rates and the only state to collect data on all hospital-acquired infections.
Last Updated: 5/9/2008