HOSPITAL INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL - A MODEL FOR IMPROVING THEQUALITY OF HOSPITAL-CARE IN LOW-INCOME AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is a powerful methodology for imp roving clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction while reducing ineff iciency and costs. However, most hospitals in low-and middle-income co untries have little experience with CQI methods. Hospital infection pr evention is an ideal model for nascent efforts to improve the quality of hospital care because of its proven efficacy in reducing the occurr ence of infections that compromise patient outcomes and increase costs . This article describes the design and implementation of a demonstrat ion project to reduce the incidence of surgical-site infections (SSIs) for hospitals with little experience with quality-improvement methods . The project has a high likelihood of producing measurable reductions in SSI rates and hospital costs related to inefficient use of periope rative antimicrobial prophylaxis. Moreover, participating staff will g ain experience that can be applied to efforts to improve the quality o f other aspects of hospital care.