WESTWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDITECH has launched a comprehensive implementation toolkit that includes best practice workflows and set-up instructions to help hospitals reduce and prevent Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs). The CAUTI Prevention Toolkit is aligned with industry-standard recommendations for reducing this most commonly reported hospital-acquired condition (HAC).
MEDITECH’s outcome-based CAUTI Prevention Toolkit, which incorporates recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Nurse Association (ANA), supports healthcare organizations in the prevention and early detection of CAUTI events. The toolkit provides physicians, nurses, and quality management staff with immediate access to catheter data, guidance, and clinical decision support notifications.
MEDITECH’s Lead Physician Informaticist, Steven Jones, MD, states that according to the CDC, each year more than 560,000 US patients are affected by CAUTIs, which are urinary tract infections caused by the insertion of a catheter in the urinary tract. “Due to its high cost and prevalence, reducing CAUTI rates has become a national priority,” he says.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) financially incentivizes hospitals to decrease the rate of reasonably preventable HACs, including CAUTIs. According to CMS data, 724 hospitals were subject to a one percent reduction in Medicare payments in Fiscal Year 2015, as a result of their overall HAC performance.
Since introducing the toolkit in September 2015, customer response has been positive, and many are already using the documentation to reduce CAUTI events. Using the MEDITECH EHR, Stamford Hospital (Stamford, CT) has reduced hospital-wide urinary catheter use by 50 percent and urinary tract infections by over 70 percent. The following in-depth case study analyzes the protocols and multidisciplinary approach the Stamford Infection Prevention team initiated to reduce their CAUTI rates.
To help customer organizations achieve clinical and operational excellence, MEDITECH’s EHR Excellence Program provides outcome-based toolkits, best practices, and educational materials on quality measurements. MEDITECH plans to release a Sepsis Prevention Toolkit in Q2 2016.
Please contact MEDITECH’s Communications Team for additional information on the CAUTI Prevention Toolkit.
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