HHS marks $17 million for projects targeting hospital-acquired infections

HHS announced $17 million in funding for projects to prevent hospital-acquired infections.

About half of that funding, $8 million, will be used to nationally expand a program developed by Johns Hopkins University and the Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality to reduce the rate of central-line blood stream infections. That project uses a checklist of best practices, infection-prevention tools and staff training and was responsible for reducing infections in Michigan intensive-care units and saving $200 million in healthcare costs, HHS said in a news release.

The remaining funding will be allocated to various hospitals and health systems across the country to focus on reducing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile, measuring the risk of infection after surgery, and studying the use of antibiotics.

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