Today’s Managing Health Care Costs Number is 9997
Source: AHRQ 2014 (CLABSI = central line associated bloodstream infection)
I highly recommend Sarah Kliff’s “First Do No Harm,” posted on vox.com on Friday. She reviews the efforts to eliminate central line infections in those with serious illnesses. There are almost 10,000 central line infections in the US each year – and almost all of them are preventable.
We’ve come a long way over the last few years- central line infections have declined by 46% from 2008-2013. This was after a 58% decrease from 2001-2009. Many hospitals have zero central line infections for many months in a row in 2015 – that certainly wasn’t the case when I was in training.
But that’s no solace for the parents of Nora Bostrom, a 4 year old with lung disease from being a premature baby, who died at Lucille Packard Hospital in California in 2013. That children’s hospital, which is well regarded, didn’t cover itself in glory in its response to the grieving parents who reached out to seek assurances that the hospital was doing all it could to prevent future such tragedies.
Kliff notes that there is a huge difference between “car crash hospitals” and “plane crash hospitals.” Car crashes are very common – but few are ever fully investigated. We rarely fix dangerous intersections after a crash, and automakers drag their feet about safety investigations and recalls. Air crashes are very uncommon, but every one is regarded as a sign of a system failure. She points out that within three days of the German Wings plane brought down by a suicidal co-pilot Lufthansa required a second pilot in the cockpit at all times.
You wouldn’t think so- but we all want to be treated at “plane crash” hospitals.
