Here are the 50 states and the District of Columbia listed according to their progress in reducing surgical site infections among colon surgery 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 colon surgery 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, 25 states and Washington, D.C., 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 colon surgery to states showing the least progress.
Note: States' SIRs show their individual progress in reducing SSIs from colon surgery and are not meant to compare actual SSI rates among states.
Montana — 0.49
Alabama — 0.633
Colorado — 0.711
Mississippi — 0.726
Missouri — 0.751
Florida — 0.78
Oregon — 0.817
Alaska — 0.818
North Carolina — 0.82
Wyoming — 0.85
Georgia — 0.865
Tennessee — 0.891
Texas — 0.891
New Jersey — 0.894
Pennsylvania — 0.914
Illinois — 0.929
Oklahoma — 0.936
Arkansas — 0.939
Ohio — 0.947
Louisiana — 0.948
California — 0.958
Wisconsin — 0.959
Kentucky — 0.963
Washington, D.C. — 0.973
Maryland — 0.982
South Carolina — 0.984
New Mexico — 1.013
Washington — 1.051
North Dakota — 1.059
Virginia — 1.065
Arizona — 1.078
Nevada — 1.105
West Virginia — 1.108
Michigan — 1.131
Indiana — 1.159
Delaware — 1.165
New Hampshire — 1.171
Nebraska — 1.177
Iowa — 1.209
Massachusetts — 1.242
New York — 1.246
South Dakota — 1.261
Minnesota — 1.306
Idaho — 1.359
Rhode Island — 1.369
Utah — 1.387
Maine — 1.419
Hawaii — 1.468
Connecticut — 1.48
Kansas — 1.551
Vermont — 1.668