Dive Brief:
- Better sharing of information between healthcare facilities could vastly reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
- In its Vital Signs newsletter, the agency said the battle over the germs has reached a tipping point, and "now more than ever is the time for public health authorities and healthcare facilities to work together."
- Up 70% fewer patients will be infected with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriacea (CRE) over the next five years if coordination between facilities and prescribing practices improve, the CDC says.
Dive Insight:
The entire concept of drug-resistant germs is frightening enough without the knowledge that lack of basic cooperation and data-sharing is helping spread the germs. The CDC claims that better practices could save 37,000 lives over five years.
"Even if one facility is following recommended infection controls, germs can be spread inside of and between health care facilities when patients are transferred from one health care facility to another without appropriate actions to stop spread," the agency notes. it outlines several major steps for healthcare facility CEOs and/or administrators, including implementing systems to alert receiving facilities when a patient who has drug-resistant germs is being transferred.