Hospira Applauds North Carolina's New Legislation Aimed at Reducing Healthcare-Associated Infections

LAKE FOREST, Ill., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospira (NYSE: HSP), a leading provider of clinical information and medication delivery technologies, today announced its support for North Carolina's new law establishing a statewide surveillance and reporting system for 14 specified healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The legislation, known as the Model Healthcare-Associated Infections Law, is effective today and institutions have until Dec. 31 to comply with its provisions. It specifies rules for a statewide reporting and surveillance system emphasizing a particular preference for electronic surveillance. The legislation is supported by the North Carolina Hospital Association, the North Carolina Division of Public Health and healthcare facilities throughout the state.

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"We are pleased to be part of this improvement in infection control and standardized reporting methods for North Carolina," said Hugh Tilson, senior vice president, North Carolina Hospital Association. "We are confident that this legislation will build on all of the work we are doing to improve the quality of care and reduce infection rates throughout the state."

These soon-to-be required reporting and surveillance systems help prevent the occurrence of major patient safety hazards like HAIs, adverse drug events and antimicrobial resistant infections. These have been linked to increased morbidity and mortality, and have an enormous financial impact on both healthcare institutions and society at large. For example, an estimated 1.7 million patients develop an HAI in the United States each year, and 99,000 die as a result, adding $28 billion to $33 billion in healthcare costs annually.(1)

The state of Pennsylvania passed a similar law in 2007, with very positive results. After implementing the reporting program for HAIs, which also requires use of electronic clinical surveillance systems to track and report infections, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported a 12.5 percent reduction in HAIs in the state's acute-care hospitals in 2009.(2)

In North Carolina, several facilities have preemptively adopted electronic clinical surveillance systems, such as Hospira's TheraDoc™ platform, which interface with a number of data sources to provide near real-time, actionable information to help identify infections sooner, improve efficiency and workflow and allow clinicians more time for patient interventions, HAI improvements and education.

"We implemented electronic clinical surveillance software in February 2010 and have seen improved efficiency in surveillance and tracking of healthcare-associated infections," explained Robin Carver, director of infection prevention, WakeMed Health & Hospitals, in Raleigh, North Carolina. "The system has allowed WakeMed clinicians to spend more time on HAI education and prevention and less time on data collection and reporting."

"This new legislation will help support Hospira's focus on reducing HAIs and other adverse patient events at healthcare facilities across the United States, helping to improve patient safety, reduce healthcare costs and increase care quality," added France Pitera, vice president, Clinical Information Technology, Hospira.

About The TheraDoc Clinical Surveillance Platform

TheraDoc systems are actively used in more than 300 U.S. hospitals, making critical patient information and medical knowledge readily available to help clinicians intervene quickly, prescribe appropriately and improve the quality of patient care, as well as facilitate reporting of HAIs via the NHSN. The TheraDoc clinical surveillance platform is the engine that powers several knowledge modules, including the Infection Control Assistant™, Antibiotic Assistant^™, ADE Assistant^™, Clinical Alerts Assistant^™ and Anticoagulation Assistant^™. For more information about TheraDoc, visit http://www.theradoc.com or call (801) 415-4400.  

About Hospira

Hospira, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company dedicated to Advancing Wellness^™. As the world leader in specialty generic injectable pharmaceuticals, Hospira offers one of the broadest portfolios of generic acute-care and oncology injectables, as well as integrated infusion therapy and medication management solutions. Through its products, Hospira helps improve the safety, cost, and productivity of patient care. The company is headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., and has approximately 14,000 employees. Learn more at http://www.hospira.com.

(1) U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.) HHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Coordination, Evaluation, and Conclusion, http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/hai/cec.html, Accessed June 21, 2011

(2) Ledue, Chelsey. "HAI report highlights improvement at Pennsylvania hospitals." Healthcare Finance News, June 28, 2010, http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/hai-report-highlights-improvement-pennsylvania-hospitals, Accessed April 16, 2011

SOURCE Hospira