United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-04-16 monographic deposited born digital 17 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-673T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T P0b002ee18038a2cf f:d08673t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T GAO-08-673T Avoidable hospital conditions Best practices Data collection Data integrity Disease control Disease detection or diagnosis Disease surveillance Emerging infectious diseases Health and behavioral care standards Health care facilities Health care policies Health care programs Health data repository Health hazards Health services administration Hospital care services Hospitals Infectious diseases Internal controls Practice guidelines Program evaluation Public health Standards Standards evaluation Systems integration Program implementation Annual Payment Update Program Testimony A81696 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health-care-associated infections (HAI)--infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for other conditions--are estimated to be 1 of the top 10 causes of death in the nation. This statement summarizes a report issued in March and released today, Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: Leadership Needed from HHS to Prioritize Prevention Practices and Improve Data on These Infections (GAO-08-283). In this report, GAO examined (1) CDC's guidelines for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs and what HHS does to promote their implementation, (2) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) and hospital accrediting organizations' required standards for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs, and (3) HHS programs that collect data related to HAIs and integration of the data across HHS. To conduct the work, GAO reviewed documents and interviewed HHS agency and accrediting organization officials. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T.pdf GAO-08-673T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-673T Testimony GAO-08-673T; Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: Leadership Needed from HHS to Prioritize Prevention Practices and Improve Data on These Infections; Avoidable hospital conditions Best practices Data collection Data integrity Disease control Disease detection or diagnosis Disease surveillance Emerging infectious diseases Health and behavioral care standards Health care facilities Health care policies Health care programs Health data repository Health hazards Health services administration Hospital care services Hospitals Infectious diseases Internal controls Practice guidelines Program evaluation Public health Standards Standards evaluation Systems integration Program implementation Annual Payment Update Program Volume 120 Page 4 120 Stat. 4 Public Law 109-171