This month,
HIIN The Know
focuses on ventilator-associated harm events. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), approximately 800,000 patients are placed on mechanical ventilation in the United States each year and 5 percent to 10 percent develop a ventilator-associated event (VAE)—accounting for up to 80,000 patient harms annually.
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In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends that hospitals perform routine surveillance for VAEs to identify practice gaps that may lead to harms, even though it is not required (see resources section below).
Through your partnership with HSAG HIIN, your Clinical Improvement Advisors and HSAG HIIN Infection Preventionists can help ensure you are performing surveillance correctly and provide support and coaching to reduce VAEs
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- AHRQ. Ventilator-Associated Events and Outcome Measures Module. Rockville, MD. Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/hais/tools/mvp/vae.html. Accessed on: June 28, 2018. Content last reviewed December 2017.
