Apr 11, 2017
The #HCBiz Show first address the topic of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) in July 2016 when we asked Infonaut founder Niall Wallace the question: Why are we losing the battle to hospital-acquired infections? From that post/interview:
Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) are a big deal in US healthcare:
- They cost U.S. hospitals as much as $45 Billion per year.
- On any given day, approximately one in 25 U S patients has at least one infection contracted during the course of their hospital care
- In 2011, there were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in U.S. hospitals and 75,000 of the patients died.
This issue impacts everyone who enters a healthcare setting whether they be patients, clinicians, administrators or guests (and anyone that comes into contact with them after that). It drives tremendous spending and resource usage. Improving infection prevention and control would easily check all the boxes of the triple aim (better patient experience, better population health, and lower costs). And yet, it's incredibly difficult to make progress. The incentive systems don't always support it, it's hard to prove things work and it's even harder to measure true return on investment (ROI) for making things not happen. In other words, HAIs and IPAC are the perfect #HCBiz topic.
On this episode, we're kicking off an 8-episode deep dive on Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC). We'll explain what the issue is, why it's important, why it exists and what innovative companies and practitioners are (or can/should be) doing about it.
Our guests:
Niall Wallace is Co-founder at the Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control and the CEO of Infonaut, a Hospital infection surveillance company.
Michael Diamond is Co-founder and Executive Director of The Infection Prevention Strategy, which runs the PAN-Access journal InfectionControl.tips and Co-founder at the Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control.
Niall and Michael do a great job of framing up the issue for our industry deep-dive and discuss issues such as:
- Why HAIs and IPAC are a global problem
- How superbugs and antibiotic resistance will ultimately take more lives than cancer and are no less than a threat to the human race (BTW... Bill Gates agrees)
- Who's impacted and how
- Why it's so hard to innovate and drive change in IPAC
- What InfectionPrevention.tips is doing about it
- What the Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control (COE IPAC) is doing about it
- And so much more...
I learned a ton recording this episode and series. I hope you do too!
This episode is part of The #HCBiz Show's Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) series. We'd like to thank our partners InfectionControl.tips and the Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control (COE IPAC) for their support and guidance with the series.
About InfectionControl.tips
InfectionControl.tips is a Pan-Access journal that extends globally and touches locally. www.IC.tips is: Free to Publish. Free to Access and provides Accessible Scientific Services.
About Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control (COE IPAC)
Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Control (COE IPAC) is a collaborative effort to accelerate and support new solutions that hold the promise of significantly advancing infection prevention and control. On a quarterly basis, the Center of Excellence will evaluate at least 3 international innovations – giving them access to independent testing, publication as well as a US commercialization site.
The #HCBiz Show! is produced by Glide Health IT, LLC in partnership with Netspective Media.
Soundtrack credit: Acid Lounge by FoolBoyMedia