Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Foleys Aren't Fun: A Hospital Leadership Team's Journey to Reducing CAUTIs

After identification of an opportunity to reduce CAUTIs, leadership headed an initiative to reduce the incidence of infection and foley utilization. A drive for improvement was managed by nursing leadership by instituting safety huddles, completing daily review of foley utilization and implementing standard of care guidelines for foley indication.

The awareness, discussion and culture change allowed the hospital to reduce their CAUTI rate from 2.0 (third quarter 2011) to .29 (first quarter 2012) and decreased percent unnecessary urinary catheters from 24.7 percent (third quarter 2011) to 9.5 percent (second quarter 2012).

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This case study is part of the Illinois Hospital Association's annual quality awards. Each year, IHA recognizes and celebrates the achievements of Illinois hospitals in continually improving and transforming health care in the state. These hospitals are improving health by striving to achieve the Triple Aim--improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction); improving the health of populations; and reducing the per capita cost of health care.

Award recipients achieve measurable and meaningful progress in providing care that is:

• Safe
• Timely
• Effective
• Efficient
• Equitable
• Patient-centered

(The Institute of Medicine's six aims for improvement.)