HRET-led project reduces CAUTI infections in nursing homes by 54%

Long-term care facilities participating in a federal project led by the AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust reduced catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 54%, according to a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. The project adapted the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program for use in long-term care facilities. More than 400 facilities participating in the project from March 2014 through August 2016 reduced their CAUTI rates from 6.4 to 3.3 per 1,000 catheter days. “We continue to see the power of AHRQ tools to help front-line staff tackle safety problems, now in nursing homes as well as hospitals,” said Jeffrey Brady, M.D., director of AHRQ’s Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. “This means that some of the most vulnerable members of society – those who reside in long-term care facilities and nursing homes – are less likely to be harmed as a result of infections.”