What is an HAI?

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are infections acquired during the course of medical care in a healthcare facility. For more information, please visit CDC’s HAI Burden page. In Delaware, these often occur through catheter use in the blood or urinary tract, or in surgical sites.

Why do I care?

HAIs can be severe and sometimes deadly. About 1 in every 20 inpatients contracts an HAI during their hospital stay. These complications are among the top 10 leading causes of death in the country. For more information please read the research article found at this link.

What is being done?

Through prevention, surveillance, and response activities, the Division of Public Health is committed to reducing the number of HAIs in hospitals throughout the state and ensuring the highest quality healthcare for all Delawareans.

Current Prevention Initiatives in Delaware

Prevention of HAIs is of utmost importance among healthcare and public health communities. The Division of Public Health works with networks of healthcare facilities along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Quality Insights of Delaware, infection control organizations, academic organizations, laboratorians, and others to reduce the occurrence of HAIs across Delaware. These activities include:

• Improving data to identify and prevent HAI outbreaks or transmission in healthcare settings.
• Developing and disseminating provider and patient education materials.
• Conducting validations studies to assess the quality of HAI data reported.
• Providing consumers access to useful healthcare quality measures through quarterly reports.

Healthcare Facilities

For information on current and upcoming reporting requirements for each of these facilities, see the Healthcare Facility HAI Reporting Requirements to CMS.

The National Movement to Eliminate HAIs

• HAI Toolkit - Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - HAI
• CDC - National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)

Current Issues

• Antibiotic Stewardship
• Clostridium Difficile Patient Education Brochure
• Multidrug-Resistant Organisms
  1. Guidelines for the Management of Multidrug-Resistant and Other Epidemiologically Important Organisms Along the Health Care Continuum   Updated August, 2015
  2. CDC - Interim Guidance for a Public Health Response to Contain Novel or Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDROs)
  3. Vital Signs: Containment of Novel Multidrug-Resistant Organisms and Resistance Mechanisms - United States, 2006-2017
• CDC CRE Toolkit: Facility Guidance for Control of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
• Please find the following hand hygiene compliance checklists for four activities:  Anesthesia,  Med-Pass,  Ambulatory Services and  Oncology. The checklists were developed by the HAIAC Prevention Subcommittee to help standardize expectations of the reviewers/inspectors during surveys to assess a facility's performance.
• CDC/FDA Health Update about the Immediate Need for Healthcare Facilities to Review Procedures for Cleaning, Disinfecting, and Sterilizing Reusable Medical Devices dated October 2, 2015
• Norovirus Prevention
  • CDC - Prevent the Spread of Norovirus
  • Guideline for the Prevention and Control of Norovirus Gastroenteritis Outbreaks in Healthcare Settings
  • Guidelines for Norovirus Prevention and Control in Long-Term Care Facilities
  • Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) - Updated Norovirus Outbreak Management and Disease Prevention Guidelines
  • CDC - Norovirus - Resources and References
• Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) - Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs: Can We Win?

Reports

• Delaware Healthcare-Associated Infections Reports
• Delaware Validation Study of Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI) Data Reported to the NHSN
• Delaware Summary of Infection Prevention and Control Program Assessment

Compare Your Facility to Others in the United States

• Use the Hospital Compare webpage to see information on patient quality of care, including prevention of infections and care of surgical site infections, for specific hospitals.
• Use the Dialysis Facility Compare webpage for quality information and infection data for specific dialysis facilities.
• Hospital Compare and Dialysis Facility Compare were developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Optional Public Reporting (formerly Hospital Quality Alliance), and are based on data from patient records. Related pages include Physician Compare, Home Health Compare, and Nursing Home Compare.

Delaware’s HAI Policies

• Regulations
• Delaware Healthcare-Associated Infections Disclosure Act

Delaware Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Committee

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