Preventing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection in the United States

Abstract

Preventing health care–associated infection (HAI) has emerged as a key focal point for improving the safety of hospitalized patients.^1-3 Indeed, as of October 1, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decided to no longer reimburse hospitals forthe additional costs of caring for patients who develop certain preventable infections during hospitalization.^4-6 The first hospital-acquired condition chosen for nonpayment was catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI),⁷ which is one of the most common HAIs in the United States.^8-10 The CMS chose CAUTI in part because it is considered “reasonably preventable.”^7(p47202) A key premise underlying this CMS policy is that there are evidence-based practices and multimodal prevention strategies that hospitals can take to reduce their CAUTI rates.⁵