WellStar Health System Wins Statewide Patient Safety Award for Reduction of Health Care Associated Infections

The Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) presented its prestigious Quality and Patient Safety Award to WellStar Health System for its project that reduced health care associated infections (HAI). The project titled, “Providing Safe Care by Reducing the Incidence of Health Care Associated Clostridum Difficile Infections,” won third place in the highly-competitive Infection Prevention and Control Category.

WellStar was also presented with a Circle of Excellence Award, an honor given to hospitals and health systems that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to quality and patient safety as evidenced by not only winning a patient safety award in 2010, but also by earning three or more PHA Patient Safety Awards within the previous five years. These annual awards recognize Georgia health care organizations for achievement in reducing the risk of medical errors and improving patient safety and medical outcomes.

“WellStar is extremely proud of this award as we strive each day to not only reduce, but also eliminate hospital acquired infections,” said Marcia Delk, M.D., WellStar's senior vice president, medical affairs and chief quality officer. “This award exemplifies our continued effort to provide world class health care to the residents and visitors of our wonderful community.”

WellStar’s infection preventionists noticed a significant increase in the number of patients with Clostridum difficile, or C. difficile. The infection typically occurs after the use of antibiotics and is a bacterium that can cause life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Further investigation of control measures showed a need for improvement in following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regulations.
The goal was to reduce the number of patients acquiring C. difficile by 15 percent in fiscal year 2010 and by 12 percent in fiscal year 2011 by following CDC recommendations 100 percent of the time. Steps in the improvement process included preventive hand washing requirements; initiation of, and adherence to, contact precautions (preventive hand washing, daily cleaning of high-touch areas in the patient rooms); and special attention to the use and duration of antibiotic treatments.
Results showed 48 percent overall reduction of C. difficile, with hospitals’ reductions ranging from 28 percent to 70 percent. Infection rates decreased from a high of 39.2 per 10,000 patients in January 2009 to 7.7 per 10,000 patients in June 2010. Adherence to contact precautions increased to over 90 percent.

“Preventing the spread of infections is one of the leading priorities among hospitals statewide,” said Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) President Joseph Parker. “We applaud WellStar Health System for its leadership and dedication in this critical area and its commitment to providing the best and safest care possible for its patients.”