Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami used weekly reports to hospital leaders to help nearly eliminate Acinetobacter baumannii infections, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
For nearly two decades and no matter what it did, the hospital struggled to prevent the infections.
Interventions included patient screening tests upon admission to the ICU and weekly thereafter, isolation and separation of patients testing positive for A. baumannii, weekly sampling of surfaces to assess thoroughness of cleaning and hand-hygiene interventions, the article said.
But when the infection control department started to email comprehensive weekly reports on new cases to physician, hospital nursing, medical and administrative leaders, the rate of transmission decreased by 63 percent, according to the article.