SEP 10, 2012 5:03pm ET

Tool Helps Hospitals Cut CLABSIs by 40 Percent

A toolkit, called the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program, or CUSP, helped participating hospital reduce central-line associated bloodstream infections by 40 percent, according to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.

AHRQ funded a program by Johns Hopkins Medicine and the American Hospital Association to use tools developed at Johns Hopkins at 1,100 adult intensive care units over a four-year period. Preliminary findings show a reduction rate from 1.903 infections per 1,000 central line days to 1.137 infections.

Michigan was the early leader in testing CUSP, a customizable program, with leadership from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association before it was expanded to 10 states and then nationally. More information and the toolkit is available here.

Decision Support