Notes:
To meet the NHSN definitions, infections must be validated using the hospital acquired infection (HAI) standards \cite{00021}. Infection rates can be stratified by unit types further defined by CDC \cite{00022}. Infections that were present on admission (POA) are not considered HAIs and not counted.
Data Collection:
CDiff and patient days can be collected through surveillance (at least once per month) or gathered through electronicdocumentation. Infections must be monitored according to NHSN surveillance definitions. Denominators documented electronically must match manual counts (+/- 5%) for a 3 month validation period.
Settings:
Infection Surveillance will occur in any inpatient location where denominator data can be collected, which may include critical/intensive care units (ICU), specialty care areas (SCA), step-down units, wards, and chronic care units. Surveillance will NOT be performed in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), Specialty Care Nurseries (SCN), babies in LDRP, or well-baby nurseries. If LDRP locations are being monitored, baby counts must be removed.
Mortality (will be calculated by the Patient Safety Movement Foundation:
The PSMF, when available, will use the mortality rates associated with Hospital Acquired Conditions targeted in the Partnership for Patient's grant funded Hospital Engagement Networks (HEN). The program targeted 10 hospital acquired conditions to reduce medical harm and costs of care. "At the outset of the PfP initiative, HHS agencies contributed their expertise to developing a measurement strategy by which to track national progress in patient safety--both in general and specifically related to the preventable HACs being addressed by the PfP. In conjunction with CMS's overall leadership of the PfP, AHRQ has helped coordinate development and use of the national measurement strategy. The results using this national measurement strategy have been referred to as the "AHRQ National Scorecard," which provides summary data on the national HAC rate \cite{ahrq2016}. Based on these data the estimated additional inpatient mortality for CDI is 0.014 (14 per 1000 events).