Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement
30/30 Education Session - 30 minutes
Justine Celli, MSPH
HAI Antibiotic Resistance Coordinator
Florida Department of Health
Tallahassee, Florida
Nothing to disclose
Linda Dickey, RN, MPH, CIC, FAPIC
Sr. Director Quality, Pt. Safety & Infection Prevention
UCI Health
Laguna Niguel, California
According to the CDC, at least 2 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and at least 23,000 people die as a result of these infections each year in the U.S. In 2013, the CDC published a report outlining the top drug-resistant threats in the country. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) was identified as one of three urgent threats.
Florida has several geographic regions that are serviced by multiple healthcare systems, facilities, and types of healthcare providers. CRE burden in metropolitan areas of Florida is a growing concern, given the population of travelers and part-time residents from places with endemic and high-burden CRE prevalence. To address this problem, a regional collaborative was established to prevent transmission and raise awareness of CRE infections in Florida. Activities for the collaborative included:
• monthly webinar trainings
• pre- and post-assessment questionnaires
• monthly reporting of CRE data
• bi-monthly conference calls
• a site visit conducted by the Department of Health, and
• implementation of best practices based on site visit reviews.
Participants will walk through all aspects of the collaborative from start to finish, learning more about CRE and its burden in the U.S. and Florida, outlining the process of forming a regional collaborative to address CRE, examining the data received during the collaborative, and getting an overview of lessons learned.