FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 4, 2008
DHEC to post second report of raw data for hospital infection rates
COLUMBIA – Information about hospital associated infections is now reported by hospitals and the second six month report is available to the public, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced today.
"Hospital infection rates for South Carolina are now required to be reported to DHEC and available to the public every six months and that information will be gathered and verified; and then reported each year to the state legislature and the public beginning in February of 2009," said Jerry J. Gibson, M.D., director of DHEC's Bureau of Disease Control. "The annual report will compare the risk adjusted hospital acquired infection rates as required by law. The law also requires that every six months the raw data will be made available to the public.
"It is important to note that the first year's raw data is preliminary data that has not been confirmed," Dr. Gibson said.
"This report is based on six months of information for some procedures and twelve months of information for other types of procedures and will contain too few procedures to offer a complete picture of hospital infection rates for each hospital," Dr. Gibson said. "At this point, the department is continuing to review the processes the hospitals are using to report infections to assure the accuracy and completeness of reporting.
"Until DHEC can report complete information to the public in January 2009, we would advise people to be careful how they use the information. It would be unwise to use the reports to compare hospitals because of the small numbers and lack of verification," Dr. Gibson said. "Also, keep in mind that some patients have conditions that make them more likely to get infections. A patient’s age, underlying diseases and level of illness all affect their risk for infection. Hospitals that treat patients who have greater risk of infection would be expected to have higher rates."
"Furthermore, some of the numbers are not yet large enough to be statistically meaningful," Dr. Gibson said, “Because the numbers are so small, substantial differences in infection rates can often be the result of chance variation rather than real differences in risk between hospitals.”
According to Dr. Gibson, infections that patients get while they are being treated in hospitals and other health care facilities are a major public health problem in the United States. These "healthcare associated infections" (HAIs) can be very serious. They can increase both the cost and length of a hospital stay and could even result in death.
"Remember, no single source of information can be used to determine overall quality of care in a hospital," Dr. Gibson said. "A hospital's experience with HAIs is only one thing to consider when choosing a facility. You should also consider the advice of your physician and the experience of the facilities and surgeons. Any factors that are unique to you should be considered as well."
Dr. Gibson recommends that concerned citizens read the information on hospital acquired infections and the definitions of terms on the HAI Web site to help them understand the HAI data reports. Reports are available from the DHEC Web site at: http://www.scdhec.gov or directly to: http://www.scdhec.gov/hai.
Once familiar with the terms, go to the "S.C. Hospital Associated Infections Reports" to see hospitals grouped by general bed size and listed alphabetically. Each hospital's report can be seen by clicking on the name of the hospital.
-###-
NOTE TO EDITORS and REPORTERS:
Hospitals are to submit their data to DHEC through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) data system.
For more information:
Adam Myrick – (803) 898-3884
E-mail – myrickar@dhec.sc.gov
MNR0220