Press Release - Nov 9, 2010
AHRQ Grant to Help Identify Emergency Department Best Practices to Reduce Healthcare Associated Infections
Boston, MA - Jeremiah Schuur, MD, MHS, of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), has received a $1 million grant from the Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, for a three-year research project to identify best practices for Emergency Departments (EDs) to reduce healthcare associated infections.
The award is part of a $34 million project focused on funding research to prevent one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States- healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). AHRQ hopes this new funding will help improve the quality of care delivered to patients and expand the fight against HAIs in hospitals, ambulatory care settings, end-stage renal disease facilities and long-term care facilities.
In collaboration with Carlos Camargo, MD, DrPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital and EMNet, the project will produce the first estimate of infection prevention strategies in emergency departments nationwide. The project will also identify best practices for infection prevention in use in EDs across the U.S., highlighting how the practices were successfully adopted and sustained into the busy ED environment.
Preventing HAIs is a national priority, and over the last several years AHRQ has demonstrated a sustained commitment to supporting this priority. From 2007-2009, AHRQ awarded over $27 million for projects on the use of standardized procedures, including a checklist of proven safety practices based on CDC recommendations, staff training and tools for improving teamwork among health care providers. With the additional $34 million in funding, AHRQ is significantly expanding this important work.
EDs with innovative infection prevention practices who are interested in sharing their success with the researchers should contact Dr. Schuur at edhaistudy@partners.org.
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