Colorado’s hospitals boast a sharply lower rate of surgery-acquired infections than the national average, according to a new bulletin from the state health department, reporting advances in a vital area of improving patient care and cutting costs.
The bulletin from the Department of Public Health and Environment compares state-mandated infection data to national results for the first time. Colorado hospitals and day-surgery centers had 40 percent fewer facility-acquired infections in heart procedures than the national average.
In hernia operations, Colorado facilities reported 37 percent fewer infections related to the surgeries than national hospitals. Overall, state surgery centers reported 7 percent fewer infections across all categories, which also included common procedures such as hip and knee replacements and hysterectomies.
Hospitals and medical personnel take increasingly elaborate measures to prevent infections from procedures they perform. Infections are considered one of the most expensive and preventable forms of accidents for patients, and federal and state officials have been on a concerted campaign to help reduce them.
The federal health care reform act includes millions of dollars in grants to facilities working to prevent infections and other hospital incidents, such as patient falls or quick readmissions. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Medicare chief Donald Berwick toured Denver Health last week to tout those measures.
Denver Health has instituted strict protocols and staff education to make everything from surgery to hand-washing more systematic and safe.
The new St. Anthony hospital in Lakewood, replacing St. Anthony Central, was built with bacteria-resistant materials in urgent care rooms, for example, to help stop infection. St. Anthony also has a centralized laundry and trash-collection system meant to reduce human contact and contamination paths.
Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com
