Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are among the top causes of unnecessary illnesses and deaths in the United States. HAIs are infections that patients get while staying in a hospital or other healthcare facility – infections that the patients did not have before being admitted.¹  Reducing preventable HAIs is a priority for the Department of Health and under state law, New Jersey hospitals are required to submit data on healthcare-associated infections to the Department. The Department is required to review and analyze the data, and report the results in New Jersey's annual Hospital Performance Report.²

2018-2023

Projects, Outreach, Policies, Legislation, and Grants

• The Communicable Disease Service (CDS) Project Firstline Team created novel and interactive trainings for frontline workers and a college tour for prospective healthcare workers. Thus far, there have been 53 trainings statewide at various healthcare setting types and academic institutions with a total of 3,488 participants trained.
• The Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) Unit in CDS provides collaborative individual healthcare facility assessments using standardized infection prevention tools. 
• The 2022 bill S2894/A4335 established Mission Critical Long-Term Care Teams to identify and intervene at long-term care (LTC) facilities at risk of operational and financial distress. The team visits identified LTC facilities one to four days per week in-person and visits another virtually. The team supports and strengthens the facilities' administrative staff to improve sustainable practices for quality and safety of the residents.
• NJDOH’s Office of Health Care Quality Assessment publishes annual Hospital Performance Reports for public consumption which include HAI data for New Jersey hospitals.
• NJDOH provides infection prevention and control (IPC) outreach through social media via the IPC Tips of the Week Campaign which focuses on a new IPC topic each month. Outreach via social media has reached nearly a million individuals, with over 100,000 individuals engaging (like, comment, etc.) with the posts.  
• As part of COVID-19 supplemental funding, NJDOH awarded a total of eight health service grants to bolster infection prevention and the reduction of HAIs.
• NJDOH applies a non-punitive approach when providing HAI prevention and infection control technical assistance to facilities or when investigating outbreaks. This encourages reporting and leaves facilities more open to suggestions and prevention strategies.
• New Jersey is one of only six states that collect and publicly report HAIs associated with Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) procedures and is one of only eight states that collect and publicly report HAIs associated with knee arthroplasty procedures. 

Final Assessment

Three of the six Healthcare-Associated Infections targets were achieved by 2020. 

• Targets were achieved for:
  • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
  • Colon surgical site infections
  • Abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections 
• Targets were not achieved for:
  • Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI)
  • Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgical site infections
  • Knee arthroplasty surgical site infections

For more information, please refer to these resources:

• NJDOH Healthy Care Quality Assessment 
• CDC National Healthcare Safety Network
• Healthy People 2020
• Healthy People 2030

References:

1. Healthcare-Associated Infections. Health Care Quality Assessment, NJDOH. 2/4/21.
2. Report Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). Health Care Quality Assessment, NJDOH. 12/13/16.