Here are the 50 states and the District of Columbia listed according to their progress in reducing surgical site infections among abdominal hysterectomy patients based on data from July 2013 through June 2014.
The SSI rates were gathered from CMS' Hospital Compare database. State progress on SSIs from abdominal hysterectomy was measured using the standardized infection ratio, or observed to expected infection rates. The SIR also accounts for differences in the types of patients a hospital treats and differences in hospital characteristics such as size.
SIRs that are less than one indicate the state had fewer SSIs than would be predicted. According to the most recent data available, 32 states had an SIR of less than one. Here, the states are listed from smallest to largest SIR, or from the states showing the most progress in reducing SSI rates from abdominal hysterectomy to states showing the least progress.
Note: States' SIRs show their individual progress in reducing SSIs for abdominal hysterectomy and are not meant to compare actual SSI rates among states.
New Hampshire — 0.264
Wyoming — 0.342
Alabama — 0.432
Oklahoma — 0.511
Alaska — 0.63
Missouri — 0.674
Kansas — 0.703
Nebraska — 0.709
Idaho — 0.722
Nevada — 0.724
Ohio — 0.744
Mississippi — 0.751
Minnesota — 0.756
Illinois — 0.774
Utah — 0.777
Indiana — 0.781
Rhode Island — 0.797
California — 0.801
Tennessee — 0.801
Texas — 0.805
Virginia — 0.813
Florida — 0.838
Kentucky — 0.886
North Carolina — 0.944
South Carolina — 0.952
New Mexico — 0.958
Colorado — 0.96
Montana — 0.96
Hawaii — 0.962
Washington — 0.968
Pennsylvania — 0.975
Louisiana — 0.984
Delaware — 1.009
West Virginia — 1.022
Georgia — 1.026
Wisconsin — 1.052
North Dakota — 1.104
Massachusetts — 1.111
Washington, D.C. — 1.113
Oregon — 1.125
New Jersey — 1.133
Michigan — 1.142
Iowa — 1.149
Maryland — 1.211
New York — 1.216
Arkansas — 1.217
Arizona — 1.279
Vermont — 1.378
South Dakota — 1.464
Connecticut — 1.586
Maine — 1.698