A collaborative multi-hospital model using standardized clinical infection and environmental cleaning programs can be effective in controlling the spread of Clostridium difficile, according to research published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.
Researchers reported the outcome of a collaborative program in which 35 acute-care hospitals in the New York participated in a comprehensive C. difficile reduction intervention. Participating institutions were almost exclusively teaching hospitals with more than 100 beds, and standardized clinical infection prevention and environmental cleaning protocols were adopted and monitored using checklists.
According to the research, the program showed that it achieved a significant hospital-onset C. difficile reduction. Participating hospitals had 1,084 fewer cases of C. difficile than expected, with a total estimated cost savings of $2.7 million to $6.8 million.
"Interventions to interrupt and prevent C. diff transmission may be more successful when implemented on a regional basis, which suggests that community and regional factors, including transferring patients between healthcare facilities, contributes to the epidemiology of C. diff and other healthcare-associated pathogens," said study lead author Brian S. Koll, MD, chief, infection prevention at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.
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