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About this Measure
Sometimes patients need a special kind of intravenous line called a "central line" when a medication needs to be given directly into the patient's bloodstream quickly or in big amounts.
Because the central line has direct access to the patient's blood supply, it can be easy for germs to enter the vein and create an infection called a blood stream infection or a central line infection.
The goal is to eliminate this type of infection.
This measure only includes patients being cared for in a critical care unit.
A lower score is better for this measure.
What is a Benchmark?
Southcoast compares all of its internal quality measures against benchmarks to help gauge our performance. Benchmarks are usually an external suitable comparison group, such as a national average, or an expected target set by an external agency. When none are available, Southcoast sets its own internal performance goals.
This benchmark: The benchmark for this measure comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network database, which creates a national average from hundreds of hospitals nationwide.
What Does This Mean?
This benchmark is usually measured by the number of infections that occurred for every 1,000 central line usage days across all patients in a defined period of time.
The goal is to achieve a rate of zero central line infections per 1,000 central line days.
Southcoast's rate is nearly five times better than the national average.
How to Compare This Measure: Some hospitals measure this rate in a percentage of central line days, or by a percentage of hospital patients. Some hospitals may only include patients in critical care units while some may include all hospital patients. When comparing hospitals, make sure the measure is reported the same way.
What Southcoast is Doing to Improve this Measure
For many years, Southcoast has followed recommendations published by expert organizations and the U.S. Centers of Disease Control & Prevention that are aimed to eliminate central line infections in critical care patients. More recently, Southcoast participates in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 5 Million Lives Campaign. We are committed to making sure all patients on a ventilator receive the "Central Line Bundle" as recommended by IHI.
The bundle prescribes the following care for patients who have a central line:
- Cleaning the skin with a special antiseptic before inserting the central line. This kills any germs that may already be on the skin.
- Using good hand washing technique, a disposable cap, mask, gown and gloves worn by the health care practitioner who will insert the central line in the patient to reduce the risk of any germs being transferred to the patient.
- Covering the patient with a sterile cloth while the central line is being inserted to create a sterile barrier.
- Using specific techniques when the central line needs to be changed or replaced to reduce the risk of germs going into the central line.
- Inserting a central line into specific areas of the body that are less likely to let germs enter the line.
- Evaluate the central line on a daily basis, and remove the line as soon as it is no longer needed to care for the patient.
If an infection develops, a team of experts reviews the case to determine what we can learn and do better.
A Note About Our Data
All data on this site are aggregate data for all Southcoast Hospitals sites.
Trend for this Measure
This chart shows how this measure has changed over the past 12 months.
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