Earlier this month, a new study was published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety (JQPS). The study evaluated healthcare-associated infections in long-term care hospitals.
A press release on the study says that “The study evaluated the standardized infection ratio (SIR) of three measures: catheter-associated urinary tract infections, Clostridioides difficile and central line-associated bloodstream infections. The SIR compares the actual number of healthcare-associated infections to the predicted number.”
The data set included 244 (73.3%) Joint Commission-accredited and 89 (26.7%) non-Joint Commission-accredited facilities.
“Compared to non-Joint Commission-accredited facilities, Joint Commission-accredited facilities had a significantly better (lower) SIR for catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central line-associated bloodstream infections, but not the Clostridioides difficile measure,” the release adds. “For each year of the study period (2017 to 2019 and July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021), a greater proportion of Joint Commission-accredited facilities performed significantly better than the national benchmark for all three measures.”
“Positive associations were observed between Joint Commission accreditation and infection control measures,” notes Beth A. Longo, DrPH, MSN, RN, study author and associate director, Department of Research, The Joint Commission. “Multiple factors may explain these findings such as the focus of Joint Commission standards on infection control and prevention and its approach to working with healthcare organizations during the survey process to identify and address infection-related risks.”
