Health News
- Consumer Reports Releases Annual Hospital-acquired Infection Report; Some Ky. Hospitals Have Work To Do; State To Get Data
A new study from Consumer Reports has analyzed hospital-acquired infection data for thousands of hospitals across the U.S. and rated them on how well they prevented these infections. Not all hospitals in Kentucky were rated, but of the ones that were,...
- Activist Seeking Stronger Rules On Reporting Health-care Infections Says Industry Lobbyists Misled Legislative Committee To Kill Bill
"Health-care industry witnesses appeared to have presented incorrect information" to the House Health and Welfare Committee in speaking March 6 against House Bill 460, which would require all health-care facilities to report infections associated with...
- More Hospital-acquired Infections Are Reported In Patients Cared For Nurses Who Are Overworked, Study Finds
Getty Images stock photo.Overworked nurses dealing with heavy patient loads are associated with increases in hospital-acquired infections, say researchers with the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School...
- 100 Kentucky Hospitals Join Network To Improve Patient Safety, Fight Hospital-acquired Conditions Such As Infections
To help hospitals reduce preventable readmissions and hospital-acquired infections, 100 of Kentucky's 131 hospitals have joined the Kentucky Hospital Association's hospital engagement network. The group's goal is to help hospitals find ways...
- Uk Hospital Gets Below Average Marks On Patient Satisfaction, Infections; Data On Your Local Hospital Are Available Online
Despite $900 million being invested in expanding the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, its patients at do not seem all that happy with the care they receive there. In an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Dr. Kevin Kavanagh of Somerset...
Health News
Legislator wants to make hospitals, health care facilities report infections acquired by patients under their care
In the face of strong opposition from Kentucky hospitals, a Democratic legislator has filed a bill that would require all health-care facilities to report the incidence of infections acquired by patients while under their care, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Beth Musgrave reports.
"The cost of hospital-acquired infections to Kentucky's health care system is estimated to be $392 to $462 million each year," state Sen. Denise Harper Angel, left, said, calling the sum "staggering." The Louisville legislator also wants to require all health facilities to implement infection-prevention programs.
"The cost of hospital-acquired infections to Kentucky's health care system is estimated to be $392 to $462 million each year," state Sen. Denise Harper Angel, left, said, calling the sum "staggering." The Louisville legislator also wants to require all health facilities to implement infection-prevention programs. Nancy Galvagni, senior vice president of the Kentucky Hospital Association, said the federal government already requires that hospital-acquired infections be reported. "There is no need for a new state mandate which would only add additional, unneeded costs on Kentucky's hospitals and state government," she said.
Infections commonly acquired at health facilities include "urinary tract infections caused by catheters, pneumonia caused by ventilators and surgical wound infections," Musgrave reports. Some report as many as 1,400 people die in Kentucky each year from hospital-acquired infections (which hospitals prefer to call "healthcare-associated infections," keeping the acronym but spreading the blame).
Senate Bill 72 would require that health care facilities report their infection data to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services by July 1, 2012. (Read more)
- Consumer Reports Releases Annual Hospital-acquired Infection Report; Some Ky. Hospitals Have Work To Do; State To Get Data
A new study from Consumer Reports has analyzed hospital-acquired infection data for thousands of hospitals across the U.S. and rated them on how well they prevented these infections. Not all hospitals in Kentucky were rated, but of the ones that were,...
- Activist Seeking Stronger Rules On Reporting Health-care Infections Says Industry Lobbyists Misled Legislative Committee To Kill Bill
"Health-care industry witnesses appeared to have presented incorrect information" to the House Health and Welfare Committee in speaking March 6 against House Bill 460, which would require all health-care facilities to report infections associated with...
- More Hospital-acquired Infections Are Reported In Patients Cared For Nurses Who Are Overworked, Study Finds
Getty Images stock photo.Overworked nurses dealing with heavy patient loads are associated with increases in hospital-acquired infections, say researchers with the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School...
- 100 Kentucky Hospitals Join Network To Improve Patient Safety, Fight Hospital-acquired Conditions Such As Infections
To help hospitals reduce preventable readmissions and hospital-acquired infections, 100 of Kentucky's 131 hospitals have joined the Kentucky Hospital Association's hospital engagement network. The group's goal is to help hospitals find ways...
- Uk Hospital Gets Below Average Marks On Patient Satisfaction, Infections; Data On Your Local Hospital Are Available Online
Despite $900 million being invested in expanding the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, its patients at do not seem all that happy with the care they receive there. In an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Dr. Kevin Kavanagh of Somerset...