Benefit of Active Approach to Surveillance of Hospital-Acquired Infections

Abstract

Background: In Slovakia the most usual approach to the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections is passive surveillance, which typically leads to of under-reporting. The resulting lack of information means there is insufficient support for effective measures to tackle preventable hospital-acquired infections. Uncontrolled incidence has a negative impact on health care outcomes as well as being a burden for the management of institutional health care. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the benefits of active approach to surveillance for more efficient identification of hospital-acquired infections and, in respect of multidrug-resistant organisms, to determine the relation to the average treatment time and to clarify the impact on hospital budgets of treating patients for such infections. Methods: Monitoring was carried out in the form of surveillance. Diagnostic criteria for detecting infection were prepared in accordance with available protocols, and were incorporated into hospital procedures for the diagnosis of hospital-acquired infections. Information was drawn from the database of the laboratory information system FONSOpenlims and patients’ medical records. Data was collected by the hospital epidemiologist and subsequently hospital-acquired infections were diagnosed by the treating physician. The incidence of infections was reported to the Regional Public Health Authority. Results: Monitoring identified 65 hospital-acquired infections, representing an incidence of 1.57%. Hospitalacquired infections prolonged hospitalisation time by an average of 9.6 days according to the monitoring of the relation of infections to the average time of treatment. It was shown that the cost of treating hospital-acquired infections exceeds payments from the health insurers. Conclusion: The study provided an overview of the incidence of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms in hospitals and led to a series of measures in the implementation and monitoring of best practices for sanitary epidemiological regime. The costs for the diagnosis and treatment of infections promoted the merits of prospective active approach to surveillance of hospital-acquired infections.