Lisa McGiffert

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• Lisa McGiffert
• Consumers Union
• 506 West 14th St. Suite A
• Austin, Texas 78701
• www.StopHospitalInfections.org
• lmcgiffert_at_consumer.org
• 512-477-4431 ext 115

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• Millions of people are infected every year
• Cost billions of dollars every year
• Preventable
• There is much hospitals, doctors, health care
  workers can do that they are not doing

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Hospital infections by the numbers

• 2 million patients are infected in hospitals each
  year (CDC)
• 1 in 20 hospital patients get an infection while
  there (CDC)
• 100,000 patients die from hospital infections
  each year (CDC)
• average cost of a serious infection following
  surgery 57,000 (AHRQ)
• cost of infections 27.5 billion a year in
  hospital costs alone (CDC, John Jernigan)
• 76 of hospital infections were billed to
  Medicare (67) and Medicaid (PHC4)

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MRSA by the numbers

• 95,000 serious MRSA infections in 2005, up from
  prior estimate of 31,000 in 2000 (CDC)
• Almost 19,000 hospital patients died in 2005 from
  serious MRSA infections (CDC)
• 85 of serious MRSA infections were healthcare
  acquired (CDC)
• 58 of health care acquired infection symptoms
  have community onset (CDC)
• One of every 20 (5) of the 368,600 patients
  treated in U.S. hospitals in 2005 for MRSA died
  (AHRQ)
• standardized incidence rate of serious MRSA
  infections was 32 per 100,000 patients

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• Consumers are driving change because the health
  care system failed to do so
• Culture of inevitability and acceptance
• Semantics of obfuscation
• Nosocomial to health care associated
• Getting to zero v. average

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• Consumers Union Campaign
• Creating a consumer-focused movement
• Spider web
• State and national
• Collect stories use stories and support story
  tellers to become effective advocates
• Local organizations
• Technical assistance to advocates and legislators
• Connecting activists with each other
• Expanding our health care safety work

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• SUMMARY OF STATE ACTIVITY
• Public reporting of infection rates CO, CT, DE,
  FL, IL, MD, MN, MO, NJ, NY, NH, OH, OK, OR, PA,
  SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA
• MRSA screening (IL, PA, NJ)
• Reporting of infection information, not rates
  (CA, OK, RI).Confidential reporting of infection
  rates to state agency (NE, NV).Voluntary
  reporting of infection information (AR).

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• State work
• Hospital infection reporting laws
• MRSA screening/prevention
• Implementation of state laws advisory
  committees, promoting reports when issued, public
  education
• Accountability of hospitals working directly to
  change hospitals in your community

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• Federal/national work
• Bills and hearings in Congress on reporting
  infection rates and MRSA prevention/screening
• CMS reporting Hospital Compare
• CMS nonpayment ripple effect with other payers
• National Quality Forum
• Joint Commission accountability

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• Restaurants are routinely inspected more
  frequently (once per year) than nursing homes
  (every two years), hospitals (once every three
  years), or physicians offices (never). (Dr.
  Elizabeth Bancroft, LA County Department of
  Public Health)