Consumer Reports to post hospital infection rates for 10 Tampa/St. Petersburg area hospitals

Hospitals in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area vary dramatically in terms of how well their intensive care units (ICUs) prevent central-line bloodstream infections, a cause of death, disability, and expense in our nations' hospitals that is largely preventable.  On February 2, www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org will post hospital infection rates for 10 Tampa/St. Petersburg area hospitals, along with other critical patient safety and satisfaction information for consumers.  Bloodstream infections cause at least 30 percent of the estimated 99,000 annual hospital-infection-related deaths in the U.S. and add on average $42,000 to the hospital bills of each ICU patient who gets a central-line infection.

None of the 10 Tampa/St. Petersburg area hospitals reported zero central line infections. Hospitals with lower than average infection rates include: Brandon Regional Hospital reported a rate that is 58 percent better than the national average, meaning there were 58 percent fewer infections reported than the U.S. average for its mix of ICUs; Largo Medical Center reported 54 percent fewer infections than average; and Regional Medical Center, Hudson reported 53 percent fewer infections than average.  The infection rates are for 2008.

On the other end of the spectrum, several Tampa/St. Petersburg area hospitals reported high infection rates: St. Petersburg General Hospital reported an infection rate that was 273 percent worse than the national average for its mix of ICUs; Doctors Hospital of Sarasota reported a rate that was 212 percent worse than average; Oak Hill Hospital reported a rate that was 63 percent worse than average; and Blake Medical Center reported a rate that was 21 percent worse than average.  

"Infection rates can vary widely from hospital to hospital and even within the same hospital chain or system," said John Santa, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center.  "Arming patients with infection rate information enables them to identify which hospitals are making patient safety a priority and which ones are not."  According to a related investigative report in the March issue of Consumer Reports, of the 926 U.S. hospitals whose infection rates were analyzed by Consumer Reports Health, 105 hospitals tallied zero central line infections (listed online at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org).  

"All hospitals should be aiming for zero infections," said Santa.  "The procedures needed to eliminate ICU infections are simple, low-tech, and inexpensive, requiring a change of mindset and culture. All ICUs should be able to dramatically reduce if not eliminate these infections."      

The Consumer Reports online ratings are based on hospitals that publicly report their infection rates as a result of state laws and hospitals that voluntarily report to the Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit that works with large employers to collect and disseminate quality information on individual hospitals in 38 regions in the U.S.  Citizen activists, including those working with Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, have helped enact laws in 27 states, forcing hospitals to publicly disclose their infection rates.  To date, 17 of those states have made that information publicly available.

Florida was one of the first states to disclose hospital infection information to the public but it does not report bloodstream infection rates.  Consequently, the Consumer Reports ratings for Florida hospitals are based on Leapfrog data.  "We are making progress toward safer care, as Florida and many other states require hospitals to account for infections," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project (www.SafePatientProject.org ).   "Still, almost two million patients each year suffer from hospital acquired infections, including central-line bloodstream infections, and there are thousands of hospitals whose infection rates fail to see the light of day."

A Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) is a type of infection caused by the presence of a central line catheter.   A "central line" or "central catheter" is a tube that is placed in a large vein in the neck, chest, or arm to enable the rapid administration of fluids, blood, or medications.   These long, flexible catheters empty out in or near the heart so that the circulatory system can deliver what's put in them within seconds.  A bloodstream infection can occur when bacteria or other germs travel down the central line and enter the bloodstream, making the central line's biggest virtue as a quick pathway for delivering the essentials into its biggest vice.  

Since the risk of infection varies substantially across different types of ICUs, the Consumer Reports ratings are using what is known as a "standardized infection ratio," taking into account the unique mix of ICU types in a given hospital by comparing the hospital infection data for each ICU to the national average for each such ICU type published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   For instance, the average infection rate for cardiac ICUs nationwide is 2 per 1000 central line days (that's the total number of days that patients are on central lines), while surgical ICUs average 2.3 infections per 1000 central line days.  So an infection rate 100% above average would be 4 per 1000 days for a cardiac ICU, but 4.6 per 1000 days for a surgical ICU.

The Consumer Reports web site (www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org) currently rates more than 3,600 hospitals in the U. S. based on several criteria including patient satisfaction, intensity of care, and steps to prevent infection.  This last measure, which is different from the CLABSI infection rates, assesses how well a hospital follows correct procedures to avoid surgical infections.