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NORC at the University Chicago

AHRQ Safety Program for MRSA Prevention

Unrecognisable Medical team performing surgery close up in the action - Hands with white gloves - green scrubs.
Scaling and evaluating an evidence-based approach to MRSA prevention in hospitals and long-term care facilities
  • Client
    Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
  • Dates
    2020 - Present

Problem

MRSA infections are a persistent threat in hospitals and long-term care settings. 

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most invasive and deadly multi-drug resistant organisms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year and more than 35,000 people die as a result. 

Solution

NORC helps deploy and assess a quality improvement program to prevent MRSA infections. 

For the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), NORC is working with Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (JHAI) to implement and evaluate the AHRQ Safety Program for MRSA Prevention. The multi-year effort focuses on the development and quality improvement of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) interventions across care settings as well as equipping frontline providers with the knowledge and skills to enhance their MRSA prevention practices.

NORC’s role includes:

  • Recruiting hospital intensive care units (ICUs), non-intensive care units, surgical services, and long-term care (LTC) facilities across the United States
  • Hosting educational webinars and office hours to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing throughout the 18-month implementation phase of the program
  • Collecting data from participating sites using a secure data submission portal
  • Conducting an assessment of the program to gauge impact on MRSA infection rates

Result

The program is expected to promote uptake of evidence-based MRSA prevention strategies.

The team will assess adoption of the program, measure effectiveness of the interventions in participating sites, and identify characteristics of hospital and LTC facility teams associated with successful implementation and improvements in outcomes.

Project Leads

“Being able to show hospitals could improve their patient safety practices, strengthen the infrastructure for MRSA prevention, and sustain these types of activities over time— would be significant accomplishments.” 

Prashila M. Dullabh

Vice President & Senior Fellow

“Being able to show hospitals could improve their patient safety practices, strengthen the infrastructure for MRSA prevention, and sustain these types of activities over time— would be significant accomplishments.” 

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