Healthcare Associated Infection (HAIs) are infections patients acquire while receiving medical care. HAI is among one of the leading causes of increased stay, cost and preventable deaths in the country. According to the CDC, 1 in 25 patients admitted to hospitals acquire at least one type of HAIs. There were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in Acute care hospitals in the US, 75,000 hospital patients died during these hospitalizations and half of these HAIs occurred outside of the intensive care unit. Government agencies such as the CDC, Health people 2020 have initiatives such as the National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare –Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination to decrease HAIs and have been somewhat successful throughout …show more content…
Some examples of HAIs are central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), surgical site infections and ventilator associated pneumonia. These infections pose a safety threat to the patients by increasing risk of mortality and morbidity. Steps have been taken healthcare providers, government organization and health care system to decrease the risk of infection and provide patient with safe and effective care. However, even with diligent effort, and attention from health professionals, HAIs still seem to be a national and international problem that still need to be …show more content…
Healthcare professionals address HAIs in different terms such as nosocomial infections and healthcare associated bloodstream infection. Though studies endorses the effectiveness of electronic surveillance, there are some mutual difficulties the researchers continue to address such as the lack of standard definition for the different types of HAIs. However many experts in the field are endorsing the use of electronic surveillance to identify HAIs in healthcare settings. The use of electronic algorithm to identify the infection can play a critical role in treating the infection, improving mortality and morbidity and help identify the causative factors related to the infection (Woeltje, 2014). However, the lack of standardized word to define infections such as CLABSI can reduce the effectiveness of computer surveillance. Lack of standardized wordings for the infection can lead to inaccurate data and adverse events. Several studies endorses the significance of an algorithm that is designed to identify all patients who are at risk of acquiring HAIs however the lack of standardized wording of HAIs can pose a threat in patient