Today’s New York Times Opinionator column focuses on hospital system efforts to “do no harm.” We couldn’t agree more that spotlighting the problem of healthcare associated infection and developing novel strategies to uncover the earliest signs of sepsis are absolutely key. Reporting rates of SSI by surgeon, by service, by hospital is how we learn where the problem areas are…and it motivates change from within the organization.
“They let surgeons know their own rates of infection and how they compared with those of peers and national benchmarks. “It had a profound impact,” said Kelley. Instead of having to impose changes, he said, surgeons came to him asking: “What should I be doing differently?”
mPOWEr has the capability to uncover the true rate of surgical site infection and feedback that information to surgeons and hospitals…an unattainable goal if we only perform infection surveillance while patients are still hospitalized, as more than 50% of SSIs occur post-discharge. And among patients who undergo surgery, SSI is the most common reason for hospital readmission.
When you check out this opinion piece, don’t skip reading the comments – patients are paying attention to the problem of healthcare associated infections. A patient-centered mHealth tool that gives patients the means to take an active role in the process of active post-discharge surveillance seems like an important next step, don’t you think?