Saturday, November 6, 2010
Headline: "Hospital Accused of Putting Patients at Risk to Cut Costs"
The Milwaukee News reports that 5 patients at a local hospital are suing the hospital after acquiring infections following surgery. Lawsuits involving nosocomial infections aren't unique, but the argument at play in these cases appears to be, and should be of great interest to hospital administrators and the infection prevention community. The plaintiffs claim that the hospital cut positions in its infection control unit as part of a cost savings plan while building a $400 million new facility. This begs the question: what is the appropriate level of resources hospitals should provide for infection prevention? There is no current national standard to answer this question. But I wonder if the public would be better served if legislative activity focusing on HAIs mandated resources (e.g., IPs/100 beds) rather than particular strategies, such as active surveillance for MRSA.
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