Resources

Overview

The Alabama Hospital Quality Initiative (AHQI) is a partnership between Alabama hospitals, CareFusion MedMined™, The Alabama Hospital Association, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to fight healthcare-associated infections. AHQI enables Infection Preventionists to facilitate and maintain a team-oriented, hospital-wide approach to minimize the incidence and effects of hospital-acquired infections as well as promote efficacious antibiotic therapy.

Facts

All acute care hospitals in the state participate in the infection prevention initiative through attendance at quarterly best practice meetings. In addition, over 60 hospitals in the state utilize automated surveillance technology provided by CareFusion MedMined™. These facilities account for over 90% of the patient hospital days in the state. All Alabamians benefit from this initiative that assists with process improvement in hospitals and the identification and communication of best practices associated with infection prevention.

Collaborative Success

AHQI has reduced hospital-acquired infections by more than 20% and proven to be a "win-win-win" situation for all by reducing the human and financial harm of infections. Clinicians are armed with real-time, hospital-wide, objective, measurable, and reproducible information that pinpoints actionable opportunities for proactive interventions.