When you link to the Infection Reporting Data, you will be guided through a step-by-step selection of the information you want to view. As you make each selection, the next step and its choices appear. Step one allows you to: Compare Central Line-Associated Bloodstream (CLAB) Infections or Surgical Site Infections (SSI's) among  hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers (ASC's) centers in a region.

OR

View an individual facility profile – shows all the available CLAB infection data for a hospital for each of the reporting intensive care units, and the SSI data for a hospital or an ASC.

Compare Multiple Facilities in a Region

Main Page

Step1. If you choose to compare data for multiple hospitals or ASC's in Step One, there are three more steps:

Step 2. Select CLAB infections or SSI's. (Data on Head-of-Bed elevation to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia's will be available in the near future)

CLAB Infections

If you selected CLAB infections in step 2, you will have the following choices: (if you selected SSI, link here to Surgical Site Infections below)

Step 3. You will select one of the hospital ICU types.

Step 4. You will select one of the four regions into which the state has been divided. Rolling your mouse over a region displays a list of the hospitals in that region that were required to submit data on the infection reporting category you selected. Clicking on a region displays the Hospital Comparison table for those hospitals.

Hospital Comparison Table

This table displays the performance of hospitals for the type of ICU that you selected in step 3 above, and for the region you selected in step 4. The circles in the table indicate how each hospital's CLAB infection rate for the selected ICU compares to the rates of two or more reference groups: One group consists of all Missouri hospitals that were required to report for that ICU. Another reference group consists of all hospitals in the U.S. with the selected ICU that reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1 A third reference group is available if you selected medical/surgical ICU's in step 3 above: the infection rate for medical/surgical ICU's in hospitals that are in the same size category (similar number of patient beds). Other ICU's - coronary, medical, surgical, pediatric, neonatal - are not compared by size of hospital due to the limited number of hospitals with any of those ICU's.

The circles in the table indicate whether a hospital ICU's infection rate is statistically similar to (half), or 'significantly' higher (empty circle) or lower (full) than the infection rate for the reference group. Being significantly higher or lower means that its rate is higher or lower than one would expect based on the usual fluctuation in the infection rate: something systematic is happening in the hospital or ICU that causes its rate to be significantly higher or lower than the reference group rate.

A number of selections can be made from the Hospital Comparison table:

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the selection page.

[+]: at the left of the hospital name -- opens a text box displaying the address, phone number, number of beds, and the web address of the hospital.

Data: in the rightmost column for a hospital -- brings up the Infection Rates table:

Infection Rates Table

This table displays the number of central line-days, the number of infections and the infection rate for the selected hospital ICU. Infection rates for the reference groups are also displayed. The infection rate is defined as the number of CLAB infections per 1000 central line-days during the reported period. If there were less than 20 hospitals in the reference group, then the rate for the reference group is replaced by 'N/A' in the table. (Rates based on fewer then 20 hospitals can fluctuate widely from year to year due to the pronounced affect of chance factors, and may not represent the underlying infection rate for the group.) As the table footnote indicates, a rate that appears to be much higher or lower than a reference group rate may not be significantly different from that rate. The Hospital Comparison table will give you the best idea of how a particular hospital is doing relative to other hospitals.

Two selections can be made from the Infection Rates table:

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the selection page.

Previous Page: returns you to the previous page.

Comments: in the rightmost column for a hospital -- displays any comments submitted by the facility regarding their data for the selected reporting category.

Surgical Site Infections

If you selected SSI's in step 2, you will have the following choices:

Step 3: You will select either hospital or ASC (ambulatory surgery center).

Step 4. If you selected hospital in step 3, you will select among three surgery types: abdominal hysterectomy, hip repair or cardiac artery bypass surgery. If you selected ASC in step 3, you will select either breast surgery or hernia repair. 

Step 5. You will select one of the four regions into which the state has been divided. Rolling your mouse over a region displays a list of the hospitals or ASC's in that region that were required to submit data on the procedure type that you selected. Clicking on a region displays the comparison table for either hospitals or ASC's, depending on your choice in step 3.

Hospital/ASC Comparison Table

This table displays the performance of hospitals or ASC's for just the procedure type that
you selected in step 4, and for just the region you selected in step 5. (Unlike the data
for CLAB infections, these data are not presented by type of ICU for the hospitals.) The circles in the table indicate how each facility’s risk-adjusted SSI rate for the selected procedure type compares to the risk-adjusted SSI rates of one or more reference groups. For hospitals, one reference group consists of hospitals that are in the same size category (similar number of patient beds) that were required to report for that procedure. A second group consists of all Missouri hospitals that were required to report the selected procedure type. The third reference group consists of all hospitals in the U.S. that reported the selected procedure to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1 For ASC's, the only reference group is the ‘Statewide’ group—all the ASC's in the state that were required to report the selected procedure.

1. National Neocolonial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System Report, data summary from January 1992 through June 2004, issued October 2004. Am J Infect Control 2004; 32:470-485.

The circles in the table indicate whether the facility’s SSI rate is similar to (half), or 'significantly' higher (empty circle) or lower (full) than the SSI rate for the reference group. Being significantly higher or lower means that its rate is higher or lower than one would expect based on the usual fluctuation in the infection rate: something systematic is happening in the facility that causes its rate to be significantly higher or lower than the reference- group rate.

A number of selections can be made from the Hospital/ASC Comparison table:

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

[+]: at the left of the facility name - opens a text box displaying the address, phone number, number of staffed beds (if a hospital), and the web address of the facility.

Data: in the rightmost column for a facility – brings up the Hospital or ASC Infection Rates table:

Infection Rates Table

This table displays the number of procedures, the number of infections in the facility, and the infection rate for the facility. Infection rates for the reference groups are also displayed. All data are presented by the procedure’s risk group. The infection rate is defined as the number of surgical site infections per 100 procedures during the reported period. If there were less than 20 facilities in the reference group, then the rate for the reference group is replaced by 'N/A' in the table. (Rates based on fewer then 20 facilities can fluctuate widely from year to year due to the pronounced affect of chance factors, and may not represent the underlying infection rate for the group.) As the table footnote indicates, a rate that appears to be much higher or lower than a reference group rate may not be significantly different from that rate. The Hospital/ASC Comparison table will give you the best idea of how a particular facility is doing relative to other facilities.

Two selections can be made from the Infection Rates table:

Previous Page: returns you to the previous page.

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

Comments: in the rightmost column for a facility -- displays any comments submitted by the facility regarding their data for the selected reporting category.

View a Profile for a Hospital or ASC

Main Page

Step 1: If you choose to view a hospital or ASC profile in step one, there are two additional steps:

Step 2: You will select either Hospital Profile or ASC Profile.

Step 3: Depending on your choice in step 2, an alphabetical list of either hospitals or ASC's appears in a drop down menu. From this menu you will choose a hospital or ASC of interest to you.

Hospital Profile Table

This table displays each of the hospital's reporting ICU's as well as any procedures that the hospital reported. The circles in the table indicate whether the CLAB infection rate for the ICU or the SSI rate for the procedure is similar to (half), or 'significantly' higher (empty circle) or lower (full) than the infection rate for the reference group. Being significantly higher or lower means that its rate is higher or lower than one would expect based on the usual fluctuation in the infection rate: something systematic is happening in the hospital or ICU that causes its rate to be significantly higher or lower than the reference group rate.

A number of selections can be made from the Profile table:

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

Data: In the rightmost column of the table -- If you select ‘Data’ for one of the ICU's, it brings up the CLAB Infection Rates table. Selecting ‘Data’ for one of the procedure types brings up the hospital Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Rates Table.

CLAB Infection Rates Table

This table displays the number of central line-days, the number of infections and the infection rate for the selected hospital ICU. Infection rates for the reference groups are also displayed. The infection rate is defined as the number of CLAB infections per 1000 central line-days during the reported period. If there were less than 20 hospitals in the reference group, then the rate for the reference group is replaced by 'N/A' in the table. (Rates based on fewer then 20 hospitals can fluctuate widely from year to year due to the pronounced affect of chance factors, and may not represent the underlying infection rate for the group.) As the table footnote indicates, a rate that appears to be much higher or lower than a reference group rate may not be significantly different from that rate. The Hospital Comparison table will give you the best idea of how a particular hospital is doing relative to other hospitals.

Two selections can be made from the CLAB Infection Rates table:

Previous Page: returns you to the previous page.

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Rate Table

This table displays the number of procedures, the number of infections in the facility, and the infection rate for the facility. Infection rates for the reference groups are also displayed. All data are presented according to each procedure’s risk group. The infection rate is defined as the number of SSI's per 100 procedures during the reported period. If there were less than 20 facilities in the comparison group, then the rate for the reference group is replaced by 'N/A' in the table. (Rates based on fewer then 20 hospitals or ASC's can fluctuate widely from year to year due to the pronounced affect of chance factors, and may not represent the underlying infection rate for the group.) As the table footnote indicates, a rate that appears to be much higher or lower than a reference group rate may not be significantly different from that rate. The Hospital Comparison table will give you the best idea of how a particular hospitals is doing relative to other hospitals.

Two selections can be made from the Surgical Site Infection Rates table:

Previous Page: returns you to the previous page.

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

Comments: in the rightmost column for a hospital -- displays any comments submitted by the facility regarding their data for the selected reporting category.

Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Profile Table

This table displays each of the procedures that the selected ASC reported. The circles in the table indicate whether the infection rate of an ASC is similar to (half), or 'significantly' higher (empty circle) or lower (full) than the infection rate for the reference group. Being significantly higher or lower means that its rate is higher or lower than one would expect based on the usual fluctuation in the infection rate: something systematic is happening in the ASC that causes its rate to be significantly higher or lower than the reference - group rate. All rates are risk adjusted.

A number of selections can be made from the Profile table:

Main Page: returns you to Step One of the original selection page.

Data: in the rightmost column of the table - brings up the Infection Rates table:

Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Rates Table

This table displays the number of procedures, the number of infections in the facility, and the infection rate for the facility. Infection rates for the reference group are also displayed. All data are presented according to each procedure’s risk group. The infection rate is defined as the number of SSI's per 100 procedures during the reported period. If there were less than 20 facilities in the reference group, then the rate for the reference group is replaced by 'N/A' in the table. (Rates based on fewer then 20 ASC's can fluctuate widely from year to year due to the pronounced affect of chance factors, and may not represent the underlying infection rate for the group.) As the table footnote indicates, a rate that appears to be much higher or lower than a reference group rate may not be significantly different from that rate. The ASC Comparison table will give you the best idea of how a particular ASC is doing relative to other ASC's.

Two selections can be made from the Surgical Site Infection Rates table:

Previous Page: returns you to the previous page.

Main Page: returns you to Step One on the original selection page.

Comments: in the rightmost column for an ASC -- displays any comments submitted by the ASC regarding their data for the selected reporting category.