Hospital-acquired infections contribute to patient morbidity and mortality. This review examines efforts to prevent hospital-acquired infections and found that despite reported improvements, some infections are not preventable. Data inconsistency, implementation incompleteness, and lack of executive oversight hinder improved understanding and prevention of hospital-acquired infections.

This expert guidance provides recommendations to help health care facilities develop policies for preventing health care–associated infections in the operating room. The authors build on existing anesthesia safety practices to outline specific actions for infection prevention and control.

Pay-for-performance strategies have been employed to reduce medical errors and improve care quality. This review examines the impact of financial incentives on occurrence of hospital-acquired infections. The authors suggest hospital administrators partner with clinicians and infection control experts to develop evidence-based policies and guidelines to prevent infections in their organizations.

This expert guidance provides recommendations to help hospitals develop policies to reduce the spread of health care–associated infections by individuals visiting patients in isolation. The authors discuss contact precautions and outline specific conditions where these suggestions should be employed.

This guidance examined literature and hospital policies around how health care staff clothing can contribute to health care–associated infections (HAIs). The investigators reveal patients' and health care workers' perceptions regarding clinician attire and recommend research to improve understanding about its potential to spread pathogens.

… Econ … Health Econ … This AHRQ-funded study conducted a detailed economic analysis of acute care hospitals in 11 … quality and safety of care measures . While unlike a prior study of Florida hospitals, this study found no … performance and quality of care, the authors highlight a number of important policy implications. They advocate for …