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. They account for approximately 1.7 million infections and almost 100,000 deaths annually1. HAIs result in extra days of hospitalizations and higher health care costs. The estimated financial impact of HAIs is between $28 billion to $33 billion a year2.
HAIs and patient safety are major public health issues that require collaborations of government and the health care industry. Reducing HAIs is a priority for the State and for New Jersey hospitals. Signed in 2007, Public Reporting Legislation (PL of 2007, C 196) requires hospitals to report HAI data to the State Department of Health for public reporting in the Hospital Performance Report.
This section of the report shows how well New Jersey hospitals are providing safe patient care by comparing hospital’s HAI experience with the national experience. It gives hospitals information to help reduce HAIs and improve patient safety.
The HAI measures are calculated differently than the recommended care and PSI measures. The HAIs are not reported as scores or simple percentages; they are reported as Standardized Infection Ratios (SIR). More detailed explanations on SIR are provided below. Hospitals that performed better than the national experience have lower ratios. Lower ratios are better because they suggest fewer infections. The label “L” in the tables identifies the better performing hospitals. Unlike recommended care measures and similar to PSIs, a lower ratio is better.