Background: Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) identified an opportunity to develop and implement prevention strategies to reduce hospital onset C. difficile infections (CDI). Hospital Onset (HO) CDI are included in National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reporting and included with other hospital-acquired infections as publically reported data. CDI contribute to prolonged hospital stays, inappropriate antimicrobial use, [...]

Background: Hospitalized patients placed on contact, droplet, or respiratory isolation due to a carrier state or infection with resistant or highly communicable organisms report higher rates of anxiety and loneliness and have fewer physician encounters, room entries, vital sign records, physician and nursing notes in the chart. For these reasons, it has been hypothesized that [...]

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization of hospitalized patients is associated with higher readmission rates and increased morbidity. Depending on the mechanisms of transmission, numerous potential control interventions exist to reduce the burden of disease. These interventions include decolonization, improving hand-washing adherence, and enhanced environment cleaning. To evaluate the impact of various types of control, [...]

Background: Proper hand hygiene is a cornerstone of infection control [1,2]. Despite this, compliance remains a challenge, averaging only 50% across healthcare systems nationwide [1].Several interventions have been trialed to improve compliance, including audit and feedback [3]. Traditionally, hand hygiene audits have occurred through direct observation. Unfortunately, this approach can capture fewer than 1-3% of [...]

Background: Curbing antibiotic overutilization has become a priority in hospitals attempting to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.  One strategy being endorsed by Antibiotic Stewardship Programs is the adoption of an “antibiotic timeout,” during which the pharmacist reviews the appropriateness of the regimen every 72 hours.  We elected to challenge hospitalists to perform a [...]