Healthcare-associated infections: A national patient safety problem and the coordinated response

In recent years, the Federal Government has placed an increasing focus on improving the quality, value, and cost-effectiveness of the healthcare delivered in the United States, especially as seen through passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a serious national patient safety problem and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Federal investments to build national and state capacity to address HAIs have been substantial. National strategies to reduce HAIs are encompassed in the “National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination” and the many activities across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that implement the HAI Action Plan. These efforts are aligned with similar robust efforts of national stakeholder organizations. The overall program's success, including both private and public sector efforts, is seen in the progress according to the measures and reduction goals in the HAI Action Plan. The national program includes a combination of components. Chief among them is the alignment of programs and policy incentives to the HAI Action Plan and the overall coordinating structure put in place by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. Even as the current program continues to evolve, it serves as a model for other approaches to complex national health problems and as a foundation for broader efforts to reduce preventable harm to patients.