MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most common hospital-acquired infection in the United States, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). It increases health care costs, patient morbidity and mortality, and the cost of hospital care. To address this urgent health care problem, CCME's Medicare-sponsored Patient Safety Program focuses on reducing the incidence of health care-associated MRSA in hospitals.

CCME facilitates a collaborative program with participating hospitals in South Carolina to reduce the prevalence of health care-associated MRSA. CCME helps each hospital carry out best practices, such as "right prescribing" of antibiotics, use of standard precautions, consistent hand hygiene, cleaning/decontamination of the environment, and inclusion of all health care staff members in intervention measures. Technical assistance with implementation of the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) MRSA Multi-Drug Resistant Organism module is also offered. CCME encourages hospitals to track their progress toward improvement through submitting MRSA data to NHSN in an effort to reduce infection and transmission rates of MRSA within their hospital.

Please visit the Patient Safety Resources section for more information on MRSA.