MedMined(TM) services from Cardinal Health Equip Hospitals to Measure
Infection Performance Against Peers to Facilitate Best Practice
Identification and Sharing
DUBLIN, Ohio, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cardinal Health, a
global provider of products and services that improve the safety and
productivity of health care, today announced a new benchmarking tool from
MedMined(TM) services that allows hospitals to compare risk-adjusted
infection rates in each unit of a hospital to peer units in similar
hospitals to help identify best practices and areas for improvement.
The MedMined(TM) benchmarking tool graphs the incidence of health care
associated infections (HAIs) in all of the units in a hospital to visually
present the current infection rate compared to its peers. The tool also
indicates whether the infection rate in each unit is improving or not,
making it easy for hospitals to identify areas of success and opportunities
for improvement.
This approach enables hospitals to compare their incidence of HAIs with
other hospitals that are clinically risk adjusted to be in the same peer
category. Peer comparisons are made using multiple factors including the
size and type of the unit and the hospital, as well as the severity of
illness of patients in each unit. In addition to monitoring and comparing
each unit separately, all units may be combined to compare the entire
hospital to its peer group.
"Hospitals are finding value in the ability to compare their results
with their peers," said J. Michael Horsley, president of the Alabama
Hospital Association. "When hospitals know which area needs the most focus
and which hospitals perform best for that type of unit, we can open a
dialogue for improvement that raises performance across all hospitals."
Infection rates are determined hospital-wide using the MedMined(TM)
nosocomial infection marker (NIM), an objective, electronic measure of the
incidence of HAIs. Because infection incidence is measured consistently
with the NIM, comparisons among hospitals are a meaningful way to identify
best practices and focus resources where they have the highest likelihood
of reducing HAIs.
"Knowing that East Alabama Medical Center is among the best in the
state for infection prevention performance validates the effort we have put
behind patient safety initiatives that have reduced infections across our
hospital," said Benja Morgan, infection control and employee health manager
of East Alabama Medical Center. "But the real benefit from the benchmarking
tool is in knowing how other hospitals perform and sharing knowledge and
best practices to ensure continued improvement."
MedMined(TM) services launched the benchmarking tool in February as an
additional feature for 46 hospitals in Alabama. The new tool will be
discussed in detail at the Alabama Quality Forum, being held today in
Birmingham, Ala. in conjunction with the Alabama Hospital Quality
Initiative (AHQI) best practice meeting. AHQI is a partnership between
MedMined(TM) services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and the
Alabama Hospital Association. Members of the Alabama Hospital Association's
Quality Task Force as well as Infection Control Professionals from
Alabama's Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) group
worked for more than a year with MedMined(TM) services to provide input
into the design of the benchmarking system.
The benchmarking capability will be rolled out to hospitals across the
country that use MedMined(TM) services in a phased approach starting in
May, and will become part of the standard package at no additional fee.
"Understanding a true hospital-wide view of HAIs is the first step to
improving infection prevention," said Patrick Hymel, M.D., vice president
and general manager of Cardinal Health's MedMined(TM) services. "The
MedMined(TM) benchmarking tool is a big step forward in allowing best
practices in infection prevention to be accurately identified and rapidly
shared among a community of hospitals."
In this first-of-its-kind effort to encourage transparency and
facilitate best practice sharing, hospitals using this new tool can
voluntarily allow other hospitals to see the name of their institution in
the benchmarking results. Those hospitals that choose to disclose their
facility can see other hospitals who also granted permission to reveal
their names in the results. Hospitals that choose to remain anonymous
cannot view any other specific hospital names in the benchmarking results,
even those who have chosen to be disclosed.
About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is an
$87 billion, global company serving the health-care industry with products
and services that help hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies reduce
costs, improve safety, productivity and profitability, and deliver better
care to patients. With a focus on making supply chains more efficient,
reducing hospital-acquired infections and breaking the cycle of harmful
medication errors, Cardinal Health develops market-leading technologies,
including Alaris(R) IV pumps, Pyxis(R) automated dispensing systems,
MedMined(TM) electronic infection surveillance service, VIASYS(R)
respiratory care products and the CareFusion(TM) patient identification
system. The company also manufactures medical and surgical products and is
one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies
worldwide. Ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more
than 40,000 people on five continents. More information about the company
may be found at http://www.cardinalhealth.com .
SOURCE Cardinal Health, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.cardinalhealth.com
CONTACT:
Media: Troy Kirkpatrick, +1-614-757-6225,
troy.kirkpatrick@cardinalhealth.com, or Investors: Jon Lyons,
+1-614-757-3996, jon.lyons@cardinalhealth.com
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