USA: Hospital acquired infections are down post-COVID, but other risks remain for patients

Hospital-acquired infections, which became substantially more common during the pandemic, have returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from a US patient safety watchdog group. It's key to note, researchers say, that infection rates before March 2020 were nothing to celebrate.

On top of that moderately good news, the Leapfrog Group found other metrics that measure patient safety and satisfaction have fallen significantly, likely because of hospital staffing shortages and other pandemic-era challenges.

"We're encouraged and relieved to see that infections are rapidly decreasing in hospitals following the spike during the pandemic, but we remain very concerned about a number of major problems in hospitals," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, an independent, national nonprofit founded by large employers and other purchasers.

Patient surveys following hospital visits found declines in experiences for the second year in a row in all states. Particularly significant drops were reported in “communication about medicines” and “responsiveness of hospital staff." Preventable errors have been linked to these problems.

"Hospitals need to take a hard look at what they are unnecessarily continuing post-pandemic that are not helping patients," Binder said.

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Source: USA Today News, 6 November 2023