Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAI) Road Map
 The Road Map to a Comprehensive Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Prevention Program provides evidence-based recommendations and standards for Minnesota hospitals to develop comprehensive HAI prevention programs. The road map reflects published literature and guidelines by relevant professional organizations and regulatory agencies, as well as identified best practices.
The road map's targeted infections:
- Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
- Central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI)
- Surgical site infection (SSI)
- Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)
The road map helps your organization assess issues related to the following components of your HAI program:
- Safety teams and organizational structure
- Access to information
- Facility expectations
- Engagement of patient/client/resident and families
- Hand hygiene
- Transmission - transmission-based isolation precautions
- Antimicrobial stewardship program
- Injection practices
- System wide environmental cleaning and disinfection
Welcome to the CHAIN Website
Chain participants, please share your tools and resources to contribute to this site. Sharing knowledge will help us all provide better care to people in Minnesota. Send tool and resource suggestions to Bruce Johnson, Stratis Health. Together, we can reduce HAI rates.
Minnesota NHSN Monthly Users Group Conference Calls
The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is a secure, internet-based surveillance system open to all types of health care facilities in the U.S. More information |
News and Events
Antimicrobial Stewardship: Chapter 2 - October 24
Antimicrobial resistance is a significant health care quality and patient safety issue. We now have infections that are virtually untreatable with currently available therapies. Mark your calendars for Antimicrobial Stewardship Chapter 2, a CHAIN-sponsored follow-up to last year’s successful kickoff conference which presented a variety of effective strategies for antimicrobial stewardship programs throughout Minnesota. Intended audience: hospital staff and clinicians, including medical directors, ED physicians, infectious disease physicians, infection preventionists, clinical pharmacists, quality directors, and administrators. More information to follow.
Stop Infections from Lethal CRE Germs Now
Read CDC’s Vital Signs for new information on carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a lethal group of bacteria that are highly resistant to antimicrobials.
Also read recommendations for CRE prevention in acute care and long-term care settings from the Minnesota Department of Health: Minnesota Targets Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Minnesota is one of the Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites that has developed and carried out active CRE surveillance.
New CMS HAI Measures for Hospitals
Effective for January 1, 2013, events, hospitals participating in the CMS Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program are required to submit data related to the following three new healthcare-associated infections: Healthcare Personal Influenza Vaccination, MRSA, and Clostridium difficile. Data will be collected via the CDC NHSN. For more information about the new measures, read a transcript and the presentation slides from a December 5, 2012, national provider conference call. |
