California falling behind other states in terms of tracking drug-resistant infections
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
February 27, 2008
California has spent time collecting data about drug-resistant infections in the community, but not enough time where they occur most--in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, experts say. A recent Los Angeles Times article says that the state is falling behind at least 15 other states in terms of tracking these infections in hospitals. In addition, California hospitals are not required to publicly report hospital infection rates, as some other states are.Consumer advocates in the state and some legislators are arguing for more hardy infection control measures to be mandated by law, as well as more public knowledge. Some hospitals argue that infection control techniques in use are already functioning well and that the money to fund more data collection is not available.
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