HealthBlawg

David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS
    • Email
  • About
  • Archives
  • Podcast
  • Press
  • Awards/Reviews
  • HIPAA
  • HCSM

Healthcare Associated Infections: What is the Message, and What Can We Do About Them?

July 8, 2011

 

The good people at GE and JESS3 have come up with an HAI infographic.  It's pretty, and it conveys the horrible information that many of us already know — healthcare associated infections kill about 100,000 people a year, and add $35 billion a year to our collective health care bill (here in the US of A); 5% of hospital inpatients end up with an HAI.

So what do we expect the world to do with this infographic?  The FDA has rolled out new cigarette package warnings, including graphic photos, that are presumably intended to so sicken potential purchasers of cigarettes that they drop the pack of cigarettes and run screaming from the counter.  In more measured terms, the FDA says:

The introduction of these warnings is expected to have a significant public health impact by decreasing the number of smokers, resulting in lives saved, increased life expectancy, and lower medical costs.

But what is the expected public health impact of publishing this infographic?  I would like to see GE, and/or others, fund the public health campaigns that are needed to accompany the release of such information.  GE is already doing some of that, to be sure, but a staggeringly large problem like the one identified here needs more attention.  The federales are trying to move the needle by refusing to pay for the cost of providing health care services required due to HAIs.  The government and providers are likely to be spending a lot of time and resources in line-drawing and finger-pointing, fighting over the dollars at stake, without pulling back and addressing root causes of HAIs in a systematic manner.

And what sort of campaign do we need in this circumstance?  A consciousness-raising campaign, so that (1) the empowered patient can insist on provider transparency, and create additional market forces pulling or pushing providers away from the marketplace that has allowed the preventable HAI count to swell, and (2) engaged providers can work to prevent the preventable HAIs and communicate the value and quality of care that they can deliver to patients and potential patients.

One possible meeting ground for like-minded patients and providers on this issue is the Society for Participatory Medicine (yes, another shameless plug for the Society and its journal, blog and listserv — full disclosure: I am chair of its public policy committee).  Join us! 

Participatory Medicine is a movement in which networked patients shift from being mere passengers to responsible drivers of their health, and in which providers encourage and value them as full partners.

Again, the infographic may introduce the problem to folks who may not be aware of it, but the real work lies in solving the problem, not just realizing that there is one.

David Harlow
The Harlow Group LLC
Health Care Law and Consulting

Filed Under: Consumer-Directed Health, Health care policy, Health Law, Health Reform, Hospitals, Participatory Medicine, Patient safety, Public Health

you might also like:

  1. HAI: preventing, reporting and not paying for hospital-acquired infections

  2. Of drug-resistant staph infections, public reporting of infection rates, and the consumer-directedness of it all

  3. Leah Binder, CEO of the Leapfrog Group, speaks with David Harlow about hospital-acquired infections

« SGR in the MPFS … again: Duck Season! Wabbit Season! Doc Season!
Health Insurance Exchange regulations are out, and they make me feel like a visitor from the future »

Comments

  1. A Burbank Cardiologist says

    July 11, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    I agree that information and transparency are very important. However, I believe the quality of the information is also key. From my personal experience, I know that many times when quality data that is publicly reported is collected at hospitals the data is massaged to make it look better.

Follow me on Twitter

David Harlow 💉😷 Follow 42,911 17,570

Mastodon @healthblawg@c.im #HealthCare #MedDevice #Compliance #Privacy @MyOmnipod #HIPAA #digitalhealth #HarlowOnHC #pinksocks Tweets are tweets No more no less

healthblawg
healthblawg avatar; David Harlow 💉😷 @healthblawg ·
4h 1620630690076282880

ICYMI> Natalie Davis, CEO of United States of Care — Harlow on Healthcare https://healthblawg.com/2022/11/natalie-davis-usofcare.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost #digitalhealth #hcldr #hitsm

Image for the Tweet beginning: ICYMI>  Natalie Davis, CEO Twitter feed image.
Reply on Twitter 1620630690076282880 Retweet on Twitter 1620630690076282880 0 Like on Twitter 1620630690076282880 1 Twitter 1620630690076282880
healthblawg avatar; David Harlow 💉😷 @healthblawg ·
10h 1620535759902998528

The Harlow #Healthcare #Innovation Daily #digitalhealth #hcldr #HarlowOnHC #digitalhealth #healthtech

Image for twitter card

Google Research and DeepMind develop AI medical chatbot

digitalhealth.net A new AI-powered medical-specific chatbot developed by Google and DeepMind has shown some potential for clinical applications.

paper.li

Reply on Twitter 1620535759902998528 Retweet on Twitter 1620535759902998528 0 Like on Twitter 1620535759902998528 0 Twitter 1620535759902998528
healthblawg avatar; David Harlow 💉😷 @healthblawg ·
11h 1620524933863378944

ICYMI> Paul Schrimpf, at Prophet Consulting, Driving Health Care Transformation — Harlow on Healthcare https://healthblawg.com/2022/12/paul-schrimpf-prophet-consulting.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost #digitalhealth #hcldr #hitsm

Image for the Tweet beginning: ICYMI>  Paul Schrimpf, at Twitter feed image.
Reply on Twitter 1620524933863378944 Retweet on Twitter 1620524933863378944 0 Like on Twitter 1620524933863378944 0 Twitter 1620524933863378944
Load More
Follow me on Mastodon

HIPAAtools

Hipaatools

The HIPAA Compliance Toolkit

The Walking Gallery

The Walking Gallery

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Categories
  • Archives
  • Podcast Interviews
  • HIPAAtools
  • HIPAA Compliance
  • Health Care Social Media
  • Speaking
  • In the Press
  • Blogroll

David Harlow

David Harlow

HealthcareNOW Radio

Connect with David

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Email
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Book Me: Speaking
  • About
  • The Harlow Group LLC
Copyright © 2006–2023
HealthBlawg is a publication of The Harlow Group LLC. See Copyright notice and disclaimer.
Fair use with attribution and a link is encouraged. Click for more on David Harlow.
[footer_backtotop text="Back to top" href="#"]