Hospital Acquired Obstetrical Infections

The December 2, 2015 issue of the “American Medical Association Morning Rounds” reminded me to this old dictum. It announced that as a result of coordinated efforts by several national health care agencies, the rate of hospital acquired conditions diminished by 17% during the years of 2010 - 2014. With the exception of side effects of drugs, the “hospital acquired conditions” were invariably infections: “Urinary tract infection, central line associated blood stream infection, pressure ulcer and surgical site infection”. It was calculated that this endeavor saved 87,000 lives and $ 20 billion in healthcare costs. My calculation is slightly different. In my mind this ambitious project failed to prevent almost 400,000 lives and allowed $100 billion taxpayers' money to be wasted. The pamphlet cites the comment of Dr. Richard Kromik, director of one the participating organizations. It seems to reveal that deep down in their souls the investigators felt that something was missing from their announcement: “We are still trying to understand all the factors involved.”