Infection prevention projects clear winners under Obamacare

January 12th, 2015

As predicted during the ramp up and passage of the controversial Affordable Care Act, infection prevention appears to be one of the clear winners under health care reform.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all states that applied for infrastructure funds (49 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), will receive funding to continue to implement strategies to protect patients from health care-associated infections (HAIs). Sixteen states are receiving funding to prevent HAIs across the spectrum of health care by building multi-facility prevention initiatives, including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Previous investments have resulted in 21 states demonstrating significant reductions in HAIs in their states, which have saved lives and health care costs.

Four states will receive HAI funding to advance the national implementation of electronic laboratory records by improving capacity to receive, validate, process, and use incoming electronic laboratory records messages in surveillance systems. These states include: Arizona, Tennessee, South Carolina, and New Mexico. This work will impact the timely reporting of health care-associated infections to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network.