Nationwide project cuts CLABSI by 40%

January 12th, 2015

On Monday, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, along with the American Hospital Association and Johns Hopkins Medicine, introduced the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) toolkit, and presented some pretty compelling data to support the use of CUSP tools.

Specifically, AHRQ announced preliminary findings from a nationwide project intended to reduce the incidence of central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). The four-year project involved more than 1,100 intensive care units in 44 states. Bottom line: Participating hospitals achieved a 40% reduction in the rate of CLABSI, "saving more than 500 lives and avoiding more than $34 million in health care costs," according to an AHRQ press release.

Peter Provonost at Hopkins led the team that created CUSP, which AHRQ describes as “a customizable program that helps hospital units address the foundation of how clinical teams care for patients. It combines clinical best practices with an understanding of the science of safety, improved safety culture, and an increased focus on teamwork.”

All of that sounds good, if a little vague. The nice thing is, you don’t have to take AHRQ’s word for it. The toolkit, which consists of Word files (“Facilitator notes”), PowerPoint presentation slides, and Flash videos, is free to download, so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth your attention.

I’m not trying to push this on anybody, but the data caught my eye, and I do love free stuff. Here’s the link: http://www.ahrq.gov/cusptoolkit/