PracticalDermatology

Teaching Hospitals Expose Patients to Bacterial Infections

Too many teaching hospitals are still exposing patients to dangerous bacteria via central line infections, according to Consumer Reports.

The new report identifies 31 U.S. teaching hospitals on its lowest-performing “zero tolerance” list and 32 on its list of top performers.

Credit: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008, is credited with devising a simple infection- reducing checklist for use in hospitals.

About 650,000 people develop infections after they are admitted to hospitals each year, and 75,000 patients die, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That makes hospital acquired infections the eighth leading cause of death, just behind diabetes. Central-line infections account for roughly five percent of all hospital infections but are considered a critical subset because:

• They are deadly in up to a quarter of cases.
• They cost an average of $46,000 to treat, which is more than any other hospital infection, and the protocol to prevent them is not costly.
• They are almost entirely preventable through the implementation of a checklist developed by Peter Pronovost, MD, who developed a safety checklist similar to one used by pilots prior to takeoff. Developed in 2001, the Pronovost checklist is still considered the gold standard. While other hospital infections have stayed steady or declined only slightly in recent years, those linked to central lines were cut in half between 2008 and 2014, according to the CDC.

Lowest Scoring Teaching Hospitals from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015

• Atlanta Medical Center Atlanta, GA
• Banner- University Medical Center Tucson, AZ
• Brooklyn Hospital Center Brooklyn, NY
• Community Regional Medical Center Fresno, CA
• Cooper University Health Care Camden, NJ
• Dartmouth – Hitchcock Medical Center Lebanon, NH
• Emory University Hospital Midtown Atlanta, GA
• Eskenazi Health Indianapolis, IN
• George Washington University Hospital Washington, DC
• Grady Memorial Hospital Atlanta, GA
• Holy Cross Hospital Silver Spring, MD
• Howard University Hospital Washington, D.C.
• Hurley Medical Center Flint, MI
• Indiana University Health University Hospital Indianapolis, IN
• Interim LSU Public Hospital New Orleans, LA
• Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Long Beach, CA
• MacNeal Hospital Berwyn, IL
• Maine Medical Center Portland, ME
• Maricopa Integrated Health System Phoenix, AZ
• Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE
• Palmetto Health Richland Columbia, SC
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick, NJ
• Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Los Angeles, CA
• SUNY Downstate Medical Center University Hospital Brooklyn, NY
• Truman Medical Center - Hospital Hill Kansas City, MO
• Tulane Medical Center New Orleans, LA
• UC San Diego Health San Diego, CA
• UF Health Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL
• University Hospital Newark, NJ
• University Medical Center of El Paso El Paso, TX
• University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City, IA

Highest-Scoring Teaching Hospitals

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Park Ridge, IL

• Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital Milwaukee, WI
• Hahnemann University Hospital Philadelphia, PA
• HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center Scottsdale, AZ
• Long Island Jewish Medical Center New Hyde Park, NY
• Maimonides Medical Center  Brooklyn, NY
• MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center  Baltimore, MD
• Medical Center Health System Odessa, TX
• Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island Pawtucket, RI
• Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hospitals Memphis, TN
• Mount Auburn Hospital Cambridge, MA
• Mount Sinai St. Luke’s – Roosevelt New York, NY
• North Shore University Hospital Manhasset, NY
• Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans, LA
• OhioHealth Grant Medical Center Columbus, OH
• OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital Columbus, OH
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center Livingston, NJ
• San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center San Francisco, CA
• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Norfolk, VA
• St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Ypsilanti, MI
• St. Luke’s University Hospital - Bethlehem Campus Bethlehem, PA
• Staten Island University Hospital Staten Island, NY
• The University of Toledo Medical Center Toledo, OH
• UC Irvine Medical Center Orange, CA
• UMass Memorial Medical Center Worcester, MA
• University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL
• University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics Columbia, MO
• University of Tennessee Medical Center Knoxville, TN
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX
• University of Washington Medical Center Seattle, WA
• Upstate University Hospital Syracuse, NY
• West Virginia University Hospitals Morgantown, WV

*Hospitals appear in alphabetical order.

How the States Rate

This map shows the percentage of hospitals in each state that met the national target for central-line infections in 2015.

CREDIT: Graphic courtesy of Consumer Reports

Points Group and Dermatology Authority Launch the Derm Toolkit

Points Group and Dermatology Authority have launched the Derm Toolkit, an online portal that provides dermatology practices with a comprehensive set of tools and services to operate more effectively and grow their practices.

Over the next four months, the Derm Toolkit will launch a broad range of specialty tools that enable dermatologists to manage, operate, and market their practices more effectively and efficiently. The Derm Toolkit comes with two distinct modules: one for operations and one for marketing.

The operations module enables dermatology practices to easily establish or improve their businesses, utilizing best practice tools, forms, processes, and guidelines. The list of more than 70 downloadable documents includes patient forms, internal employee manuals, policies, and revenue management tools. The operations module also includes a complete startup guide that provides a step-by-step approach on how to open a dermatology practice.

The marketing module provides access to an extensive database with ready-to-use marketing materials, including brochures, mailings, ads, promo cards, posters, social media content, and blogs. In addition, users have a variety of optional services for custom projects and website development.

The Derm Toolkit is a result of the partnership of Points Group and Dermatology Authority, a partnership that provides a broad range of fully integrated services to the dermatology market. These services are ideal for both new and established dermatology practices who are focused on growing their businesses in ways that are efficient and unmatched in the market.

“Our partnership with Points and the launch of the Derm Toolkit makes us a ‘one-stop shop’ for dermatology practices,” states Kim Campbell, President, Dermatology Authority. “The combination of expertise and services we can provide together for every level and need in dermatology is now unsurpassed.”

In the first quarter of this year, the Derm Toolkit will also include an interactive growth forum for members to receive free advice on practice growth. They will also have access to a tool that will enable them to better monitor and manage their online reputation, as well as a Patient Catch Basin Analyzer that will allow them to identify where the biggest growth and marketing opportunities are in their market. In addition, they will have access to a proprietary Job Board that covers dermatology opportunities across the nation. thedermtoolkit.com.