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The Impact of Observation Units on the Rate of Hospital-Acquired Infection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Anna Dow Sheahan  and
Kent A. Sepkowitz
Anna Dow Sheahan*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Infection Control, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Kent A. Sepkowitz
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Infection Control, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
*
Department of Medicine, Infection Control, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (sheahana@mskcc.org)
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Abstract

Using Clostridium difficile as an example, we calculated the impact that reduced inpatient-day denominators resulting from implemen¬tation of hospital observation units would have on hospital-acquired infection rates. Using proposed scenarios of reduced inpatient-days, we estimated an increase in the hospital-acquired C. difficile infection rate of up to 12%.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 34 , Issue 12 , December 2013 , pp. 1318 - 1320
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2013

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References

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