This evaluation of HHS' Healthcare
Associated Infections National Action Plan will assess the
efficacy, efficiency and coordination of federal efforts to
mitigate and prevent Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs). As
such, the evaluation represents a critical component of AHRQ's
mission to promote health care quality improvement. HAIs are
infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for
other conditions while in a healthcare setting. They affect care in
hospitals-hereafter referred to as "acute care", ambulatory care
settings, and long-term care facilities, and represent a
significant cause of illness and death in the United States. Over
one million HAIs occur across health care settings every year. In
2008, amidst growing demands on the healthcare system, rising
healthcare costs, and increasing concerns about
antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, HHS established a senior-level
Steering Committee for the Prevention of HAIs. Charged with
improving coordination and maximizing the efficiency of prevention
efforts across HHS, the Steering Committee released the first
"National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections"
(HAI NAP) in 2009. This plan outlined a systematic and phased
approach to reducing HAIs and associated morbidity, mortality, and
costs. Phase One of HAI NAP, which concluded in 2012, focused on
HAI prevention in acute care hospitals, where data on prevention
and the capacity to measure improvement were most complete.
Additionally, the plan set specific targets for reducing rates of
six high priority HAIs or specific causative organisms: surgical
site infection (SSI), central-line associated bloodstream infection
(CLABSI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP),
catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), Clostridium
difficile infection, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus infection (MRSA). Phase II of the Action Plan, entitled
National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections:
Roadmap to Elimination was released in April 2012. Phase II
expanded the Action Plan to include prevention of HAIs in
ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) and end-stage renal disease
(ESRD) facilities, and increasing influenza vaccination coverage of
healthcare personnel. Phase III of the HAI NAP, released for public
comment in April 2013, further expanded the Action Plan to include
prevention of HAIs in long-term care facilities. Evaluation of HAI
NAP. In 2009, AHRQ funded an independent, outside evaluation of
HHS' HAI prevention efforts, as guided by the Action Plan. The
goals of this evaluation were to: (1) record the content and scope
of the Action Plan, its current design, its progress, and impact on
the future; (2) establish baseline data and provide additional
information on the HAI landscape prior to and following the
initiation of the Action Plan effort; and (3) provide strategic
insights from ongoing processes for reducing HAIs and outcomes of
these processes. The current evaluation will expand upon this
initial effort, encompassing the additional health care settings
outlined in Phases II and III of the HAI NAP. The goals of this
Phase II evaluation are to: 1. identify commonalities, gaps,
themes, and opportunities for collaboration across six Federal
quality improvement and patient safety efforts to eliminate HAIs;
and 2. highlight actionable opportunities across HHS to collaborate
and efficiently utilize resources in these quality improvement and
patient safety efforts; and 3. assess the unique and aggregate
contributions of each quality improvement and patient safety effort
to the mitigation and prevention of HAIs.
US Code:
42
USC 299 Name of Law: Healthcare and Quality Act of 1999
Submission of a new ICR for OMB
review and approval.
$697,400
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Doris Lefkowitz
3014271477
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form 2 Attachment B: Interview Protocol for Ambulatory Surgical Centers
HAI NAP Supporting Statement Part A FINANovemberL.doc
Attachment H HAI NAP Recruitment Letter from AHRQ.docx
Attachment D: Interview Protocol for Long Term Care Settings