BACKGROUND: The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has received healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data from 81 acute care and critical access hospitals through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) since 2008. In 2015, the Virginia HAI reporting regulations were aligned with those of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program, greatly expanding the data VDH receive from Virginia hospitals. The 2015 Virginia HAI Annual Report summarized hospital performance on device-associated and procedure-specific infections, hospital-onset laboratory-identified events, and healthcare personnel vaccination. Two versions of the report were created – distinctly targeted to healthcare provider and consumer audiences.
METHODS: The 2015 Virginia HAI Annual Report was developed based on guidelines from the CSTE/CDC HAI Data Analysis and Presentation Standardization (DAPS) toolkit. Stakeholder input was solicited during the development process; the Virginia HAI Advisory Group contributed to the content and layout of the report, and a council of patient and family advisors contributed feedback on the consumer version. Hospital infection preventionists were given two weeks to preview and comment on hospital data before publication. VDH undertook a “full court press” dissemination approach; social and traditional media releases accompanied the publication of the report on the VDH website. Finally, a webinar introduced the report to Virginia hospitals and local public health partners.
RESULTS: The DAPS framework guided the development of the report; additional elements, such as historical data and graphs, were added based on stakeholder feedback and to facilitate visual presentation of the data. Support was received from agency leadership and partner organizations during the development and release of the report; however, review and approval took longer than expected. The 2015 report was released on November 14, 2016. VDH created a new web page to house the report, which has received 207 unique views as of December 21, 2016.
CONCLUSIONS: The development of the HAI Annual Report was successful but resource intensive. Statewide results successfully identified gaps and have helped set prevention priorities for the coming year, specifically for abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections and healthcare worker influenza vaccination data. The DAPS toolkit provided helpful guidance on developing the content of both versions of the report. Useful additions to the DAPS toolkit would include an example press release, frequently asked questions, graphics, and additional SAS code. Overall, ample time, effort, and logistics are required for successful future reports.