A Case Study of Organizational Risk on Hospital-Acquired Infections

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) pose a significant threat to health care and healthcare organizations. HAls cause patient safety, ethical, regulatory, financial, and legal risk. The HAI workgroup at one organization is leading improvement efforts that require every individual in the organization to be engaged in the improvement efforts. Understanding root causes, following the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model for improvement to deploy interventions, communicating HAI stories to the frontline, and implementing staff improvement ideas have all proven effective in addressing HAls. The community, patients, and the organization's reputation as a quality provider of health care depend on these continuous improvement efforts.