While there are nearly a quarter of a billion blood stream infections recorded each year in America’s hospitals, the good news is the decline in one type of infection tracked by the Illinois Hospital Report Care and Consumer Guide to Health Care website. According to the website, the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections reported by adult intensive care units in Illinois declined to 282 cases in 2010, down from 383 infections reported in 2009. Operated by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the website includes hospital-specific information on satisfaction, volume and charges, surgical safety, nurse staffing and a host of performance indicators from the U.S. Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality. Created and managed by IPRO eServices, the
website’s information is updated several times a year. Other performance measurement and reporting databases created and managed by IPRO eServices include the Bridges to Excellence Clinical Data Portal (http://pao.ipro.org), the Commonwealth Fund’s
Why Not the Best site (www.whynotthebest.org), and New York State’s Profiles, which includes information on hospitals (www.hospitals.nyhealth.gov), and nursing homes (www.nursinghomes.nyhealth.gov), as well as home health agencies and hospice programs (www.homecare.nyhealth.gov).