Healthcare-Associated Infections Associated with Readmission, Study Finds
May 16, 2012 | Strategic Insights for Health System
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Patients with healthcare-associated infections may be at increased risk of hospital readmission, according to the results of a study published in the June 2012 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. The study, which tracked 136,513 patients who were admitted to an academic, tertiary care referral center from 2001 to 2008, found that patients with positive clinical cultures for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), or Clostridium difficile after more than 48 hours following hospital admission were 40% more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within a year and 60% more likely to be readmitted within 30 days than patients with negative or no clinical cultures.