Infection-Prevention Measurements Added to Minnesota Hospital Quality Site

Features compare work to prevent surgical, other infections

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release was
issued today by the Minnesota Hospital Association:

New online measurements show how consistently Minnesota hospitals took
recommended steps to keep patients from acquiring infections.

The Minnesota Hospital Quality Report (www.mnhospitalquality.org) added the
information this month as part of an ongoing effort to make comparable
information on quality public and accessible.

To combat surgical infections, for example, one best practice recommends that
patients be given an antibiotic within one hour before surgery. The new data
show the percentage of time that each hospital did so.

"This information allows consumers to easily see how Minnesota hospitals have
worked to prevent infections -- in the operating room, at patients' bedsides
and elsewhere in the hospital," said Minnesota Hospital Association President
and CEO Lawrence Massa. "The initiative demonstrates our hospitals' commitment
to transparency and their continued leadership in safety and quality."

The report quantifies efforts taken to prevent ventilator-associated
pneumonia, bloodstream infections, surgical infections and other sources of
infections. Data shown were collected from January to June 2009 and the
information will be updated quarterly.

The 3 1/2-year-old Minnesota Hospital Quality Report had already quantified
how often hospitals implement proven safety measures to prevent heart attack,
heart failure and pneumonia. Those common conditions are the most expensive to
treat.

The site is operated by the hospital association and Bloomington-based
nonprofit quality improvement organization Stratis Health. An advisory
committee that also comprised the International Union of Operating Engineers
(IUOE), the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and
Epidemiology guided the infection-reporting effort, which was called for under
a 2007 state law. Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL) was the original author and main
sponsor of the legislation.

Jason George, legislative and political organizer for the IUOE Local 49,
applauded the initiative.

"This new data and a more consumer-friendly Web site are important steps in
the effort to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections," George said.
"The information will ultimately lead to better quality care for our members
and lower costs for our union's health care fund."

Stratis Health President and CEO Jennifer Lundblad said the work is important.

"These important new measures added to the Minnesota Hospital Quality report
mean that Minnesota consumers now have more information on which to base their
health care decisions, and providers have more data to help support their
improvement work," she said. "Stratis Health is proud to be part of a
multi-stakeholder effort to make these infection data available to the
public."

Surgical site infection rates for total knee replacement will be the next
measures to be launched on the Minnesota Hospital Quality Report, which is
expected to be available in the fall of 2010.

The Minnesota Hospital Association represents Minnesota's nonprofit hospitals
and health systems (www.mnhospitals.org).

Stratis Health is a nonprofit, independent quality improvement organization
that collaborates with health care providers and consumers to improve health
care. The organization serves the state as Minnesota's Medicare Quality
Improvement Organization. Since the advent of the quality improvement approach
in the early 1990s, Stratis Health has focused on collaborative improvement
work with hospitals, clinics, health plans, and most recently, nursing homes
and home health agencies (www.stratishealth.org).

For a list of MHA Infection Control Advisory Committee members, visit this
link:
http://www.mnhospitals.org/inc/data/pdfs/MHA-Infection-Control-Advisory-Committee-roster.pdf

SOURCE Minnesota Hospital Association

Jan Hennings, APR, Minnesota Hospital Association, O: +1-651-603-3549, C:
+1-612-804-2250; or Margaret LeDuc, Stratis Health, +1-952-853-8578