Jodie Jackson Jr. of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune took an in-depth look at patient safety at University Hospital, part of the University of Missouri Health Care system.
Jackson found that inspections, by CMS and the FDA, have repeatedly turned up systemic practices that compromised patient safety. At the same time, the Joint Commission awarded the hospital a full accreditation, raising questions about why the agencies don’t share information.
In a blog post, Jackson, a Midwest Health Journalism Program Fellow, says he has “examined some 700 pages of documents and have had national infection control leaders examine the reports that formed the basis for the series.”
Hospital Acquired Infections :Statistics show rates of Clostridium difficile infection among hospitalized patients Increasing costs and length of stay. A little known fact ,age ≥65 years, by age group in the United States from 1996-2009, according to the National Hospital Discharge Survey Clostridium difficile infections can lead to diarrhea, sepsis, and even death. The majority of infections with C. difficile occur among persons aged ≥65 years and among patients in health-care facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes. From 1996 to 2009, C. difficile rates for hospitalized persons aged ≥65 years increased 200%, with increases of 175% for those aged 65-74 years, 198% for those aged 75-84 years, and 201% for those aged ≥85 years. C. difficile rates among patients aged ≥85 years were notably higher than those for the other age groups.