Hospitals’ surgery infection rates posted online

SEATTLE – Washington state hospitals became a little more transparent Tuesday.

Thanks to a new state law, the Washington State Hospital Association is now posting hospital-by-hospital surgery infection data online, to help consumers find the best place for their surgery and to assist hospitals in improving their safety records.

For about five years, the hospital association has posted other quality reporting information, such as the average time it takes for a patient to be tested if they go to an emergency room with chest pain.

State officials say it’s the first time hospital-specific information about infections after surgery will be available to the public in Washington state. The site also lists whether a hospital follows proven infection prevention safeguards like keeping a close watch on antibiotic dosing.

“The ultimate goal is making hospital care be even safer,” said association spokeswoman Cassie Sauer.

A few hospitals stand out in the charts because of their high infection rates, such as Harborview Medical Center.

Carol Wagner, the association’s vice president for patient safety, said the reason for Harborview’s numbers can be traced back to the types of very ill patients treated at the state’s only level 1 trauma center.

For example, the statewide average for ventilator-related infections is 0.7 infections per 100 procedures. The number for Harborview is 9.93 per 100 procedures.

Harborview and its sister hospitals in the University of Washington system have all made significant improvements in infection control, university officials said. For example, Harborview cut in half the number of ventilator-associated pneumonia cases between 2007 and 2009. The University of Washington Medical Center has some of the lowest infection rates in the state.

Infection rate data is posted for all the state’s hospitals for some heart surgery, knee and hip replacement and hysterectomies. The data is searchable by operation, geographic location and infection rate.

Sauer said the hospital association did its best to make sure the information is easy to access and understand.

The association found its data show Washington hospitals have infection rates below the national average.

“We’re delighted by that surprise,” Sauer said. “We want to keep getting better.”