Computerized Safety Checklist Helps Reduce Hospital Infections

A recent study shows how a computerized safety checklist could help prevent infections in hospitals.

Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford created an automated checklist and dashboard-style interface that can help caregivers interact more easily and efficiently. Using this checklist, researchers found that the rate of central line infections, such as those targeted through the bloodstream via catheters in major veins, dropped in the pediatric intensive care unit from 2.6 to 0.7 per 1,000 days of central line use.

Central lines are typically used to administer long-term antibiotics or chemotherapy for patients suffering from kidney dialysis or frequent blood draws.

"Electronic medical records are data-rich and information-poor," said Natalie Pageler, MD, the study's lead author, via a press release. The citical medicine specialist at the hospital and clinical associate professor of pediatrics said she believes that though eletronic medical records can be cumbersome, this new method could help with correctly using the information. "Our new tool lets physicians focus on taking care of the patient while automating some of the background safety checks."

The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical errors identified many central line infections. In fact, the findings showed that approximately 40 percent of the patient's in the pediatric unit have central lines during their stay. 

"The information was visible and easy to digest," said Deborah Franzon, MD, the study's senior author and a clinical associate professor of pediatrics and medical director of the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit. "We improved compliance with best-care practices and pulled information that otherwise would have been difficult to look for. It reduced busy-work and made it possible for the health-care team to perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively."

Researchers found that this intervention method saved close to $260,000 per year in health-care costs, when treating a central line infection alone can cost $39,000.

For their next step, researchers hope to expand the system to others, including the recovery of children who have received organ transplants.

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More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Pediatrics.