A Collaborative Effort to Prepare South Carolina Healthcare Facilities for Statewide Ventilator-Associated Events Surveillance and Reporting

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated Events (VAE) lead to increased morbidity and mortality, as well as longer duration of mechanical ventilation and hospitalization, causing increased healthcare costs. To establish surveillance of VAE and promote prevention activities in South Carolina, VAE was added to the Hospital Infections Disclosure Act (HIDA) reporting mandate in January 2015. The statute requires acute care, long term acute care and inpatient rehabilitation facilities to report VAE in inpatient critical care and rehabilitation units to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) via the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). 

METHODS: DHEC, in collaboration with the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) and the state's chapter of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control (APIC Palmetto) worked to prepare facilities for VAE surveillance prior to the beginning of mandatory reporting. VAE subject matter experts from all three organizations formed a VAE planning workgroup to: (i) distribute a joint partners letter to serve as notification of VAE reporting requirements, (ii) conduct a full day in-person VAE education conference for infection preventionists and respiratory therapists at no cost and (iii) provide a free follow-up webinar on VAE surveillance and reporting. Conference presentations and webinar topics focused on NHSN definitions, the VAE calculator, data collection and entry methods, and analysis of data.  Speakers were from DHEC, SCHA, and CDC.  DHEC also provided ongoing technical support and feedback data reports to facilities that voluntarily reported VAE data prior to the 2015 mandate. 

RESULTS: Notification letters were signed by senior leadership from DHEC, SCHA and APIC Palmetto and distributed to facility leadership and infection prevention departments at all 78 HIDA reporting facilities. A total of 130 healthcare professionals from 67 healthcare facilities attended the VAE education conference; infection preventionists and respiratory therapists were offered 5 hours of education credit for attending. There were a total of 26 attendees on the VAE webinar. The VAE education conference presentations and webinar were recorded and posted on the SCHA webpage for further dissemination. In preparation for the 2015 mandate, 41 facilities voluntarily reported VAE data to DHEC via NHSN during 2014.  

CONCLUSIONS: Partnership with stakeholders and pooling of resources enabled South Carolina DHEC to provide training to prepare facilities for VAE surveillance and maximize the accuracy of reported data.  Continued collaboration through these partnerships will further be utilized to guide prevention efforts to reduce VAE in South Carolina.