Experts call for developing centers of excellence to reduce HAIs

Patient safety experts William Padula, PhD, and Peter Pronovost, PhD, MD, call for policymakers to reward high-performing hospitals and develop centers of excellence to reduce hospital-acquired infections. Writing in the October issue of the Journal of Patient Safety, the authors recommend scrapping the current model of financial penalties and non-payment for low-performing hospitals in favor of a system that invests in HAI prevention by adhering to evidence-based guidelines. Such a system would be more effective in keeping patients safe from harm, they argue, and cost less than treating adverse outcomes. They estimate the U.S. health system could avoid $48 billion in spending on treating harmful hospital-acquired conditions and recuperate over $35 billion after investing in preventing hospital-acquired conditions over treating them.