Healthcare-associated infection management has advanced rapidly in recent years. With the development of more standards and guidelines, infection control measures become more standardized and evidence-based. Evidence-based measures are increasingly applied in infection control, which promote more studies on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. Furthermore, more new ideas of infection control have emerged, with old ones being challenged. The hand hygiene reform, multidrug-resistant organisms, and surgical site infections become the hot topics in recent years. In addition, whole-genome sequencing also provides more bases for understanding pathogen transmission in hospitals. Based on the high-quality studies published in recent years, this opinion review discusses these hot topics in the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections.
Objective To analyze the policy and guideline, the institutional management and the operation mechanism of ICU medical risk management in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada and Taiwan, so as to provide evidence and recommendations for health care risk management policy in China. Methods Such databases as PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library were searched to include the literatures such as the guideline documents and the research reports on ICU medical risk management in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada and Taiwan; the institutional management and the operation mechanism of the risk management in the above four countries and one area were comprehensively analyzed, and especially the UK model was highly emphasized. Results A total of 31 literatures were included, including 1 guideline, 5 reviews, 2 investigative reports and 23 research documents. The United Kingdom guided the ICU risk management in forms of the standard and the guideline, formulated a clear tool of event classification and corresponding response mechanism. The United States learned from Australia’s experience and established the ICU safety reporting system; both of them regarded ICU as one part of the medical risk management and set up a special management column. Conclusion The ICU risk management with the independent report system in the United Kingdom is brought into the scope of national patient safety management, and is regarded as the relative complete system at present. In Australia and the USA, the national institutions are in charge of setting up the research projects of ICU risk management; the industry associations and the non-governmental organizations lead the risk research; and the experimental units popularize gradually after self-application.
The study investigates the current status of corporate governance structures in medical insurance agencies in typical cities and provinces in China, highlighting the challenges faced by corporate governance in these institutions. It advocates for the continued comprehensive promotion of the nationwide establishment of a unified corporate governance framework for medical insurance agencies. Furthermore, it recommends enhancing the legislative support system for corporate governance in medical insurance agencies to ensure the effective implementation of decision-making powers within these organizations. Additionally, the study proposes actively establishing social evaluation and supervision mechanisms for corporate governance to further enhance the corporate governance structure of medical insurance agencies in China.
With nearly four decades of progress in healthcare-associated infection prevention and control in China, the national quality control efforts in this field have been ongoing for the past ten years, advancing rapidly with significant achievements. Over the last decade, the team of infection control professionals involved in quality management and control in China has consistently expanded, accompanied by an enhancement of their skills. Management capabilities have steadily grown, and operational mechanisms have been continuously refined. As public hospitals transition into a new phase of high-quality development, emphasizing refined management models and intrinsic development of medical quality, it becomes crucial to further fortify the foundation and foster innovation in infection control work to ensure quality. This article provides an overview of the establishment and implementation of the National Center for Quality Control of Infection Prevention and Control, examines the current shortcomings and challenges in the field, and collectively explores the positioning and direction of the development of quality control efforts for infection prevention and control in China.
Objective To investigate the situation and related factors of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in Sichuan, and provide a basis for the formulation of the strategy of influenza vaccination. Methods From August 1st to August 6th, 2022, healthcare workers from 21 prefectures and cities in Sichuan province were selected by the hospital infection quality control centers to conduct an online questionnaire survey for status and related factors of influenza vaccination. Single factor analysis of vaccination rate was carried out by χ2 test, and the related factors of influenza vaccination were analyzed by binary multiple logistic regression model. Results A total of 3264 copies of questionnaires were distributed, and 3244 valid copies were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 99.4%. The vaccination rate of influenza vaccine in the surveyed healthcare workers was 56.9% (1846/3244). The gender, age, professional title, position, department, hospital type, hospital nature, hospital level, influenza awareness, and influenza vaccination willingness were the factors resulting in statistically significant differences in influenza vaccination rate among healthcare workers (P<0.05). Binary multiple logistic regression indicated that age≥35 years old [odds ratio (OR)=0.799, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.681, 0.937), P=0.006], the educational background being bachelor degree or above [OR=1.221, 95%CI (1.036, 1.439), P=0.017], position [nurses vs. doctors: OR=1.339, 95%CI (1.112, 1.612), P=0.002; technicians vs. doctors: OR=1.849, 95%CI (1.278, 2.676), P=0.001], the hospital type being specialized hospital [OR=1.804, 95%CI (1.446, 2.251), P<0.001], hospital level [secondary vs. primary hospitals: OR=0.344, 95%CI (0.271, 0.437), P<0.001; tertiary vs. primary hospitals: OR=0.526, 95%CI (0.413, 0.671), P<0.001], influenza awareness [fair vs. poor: OR=1.262, 95%CI (1.057, 1.508), P=0.010; good vs. poor: OR=1.489, 95%CI (1.142, 1.940), P=0.003], vaccination willingness [OR=4.725, 95%CI (4.009, 5.569), P<0.001] were related factors of influenza vaccination in healthcare workers. The influenza awareness was good in 416 healthcare workers (12.8%), fair in 1989 (61.3%), and poor in 839 (25.9%). The correct rate of influenza vaccination frequency was the highest (82.7%), while the correct rate of influenza contraindication was the lowest (3.2%). Among the healthcare workers, 2206 (68.0%) were willing to be vaccinated, of whom 1548 (70.2%) believed that they could protect people with weak immune function around them after vaccination; 1038 were unwilling to be vaccinated with influenza vaccine in the near future, of whom 335 (32.3%) believed that they had strong immunity and did not need to be vaccinated. Conclusions The influenza vaccination rate of medical staff is related to a variety of factors. Strengthening the publicity and education, and encouraging hospitals to provide free influenza vaccination, especially the correct understanding of contraindications, may be helpful to improve the vaccination rate.
Based on the situation of healthcare reform, new cooperative hospitals with private assets invested came into being. Our hospital carried out such practice and established the first new type hospital in the southwest of China in 2012. In the new cooperative mode, a new neurology ward was established. A series of unique and innovative means of operation and quality control were applied, including introduction of brand marketing strategy, promoting advantageous sub-professions, and pay special attention on talents and quality control. This article is aimed to share the management experiences.
ObjectiveTo analyze the main input and output of healthcare reform in China, and to provide references for improving the policies and measures of healthcare reform in China in future. MethodsData from the National Health Services Survey, and the China Statistical Yearbook etc. was collected to compare and analyze the allocation of health resources, health status of residents, health service utilization, and medical burden before and after healthcare reform. ResultsDuring the reform from 2009 to 2013, hospital health and technical personnel increased year by year. In 2013, the proportion of health and technical personnel in hospitals was up to 61.4% of the total national health technical personnel. In 2013, 65.19% of government expenditure on healthcare was used for disease treatment, and only 14.59% was used for disease prevention. Compared with the year of 2008, the two-week prevalence rate of residents increased by 5.2%, the chronic disease prevalence rate increased by 9% in 2013. Compared with the year of 2009, the annually diagnosed and treated patients increased 18.2 billion person-time, the annually discharged patients increased 59.65 million person-time in 2013. The individual residents paid 52.49% of total medical expenses. ConclusionSince the healthcare reform, China's central and local governments have imputed a large number of health resources into hospitals for "disease treatment". That partly improved the utilization of residents' health service, but the two-week prevalence rate and chronic disease prevalence rate are rapidly growing. There is still high burden of medical expenses for the residents. China's healthcare model should be changed from "treatment-centered" to "prevention-centered" in future.
Objective To explore the impact of community healthcare workers’ (CHWs) knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on the influenza vaccination among elderly people. Methods By means of simple random sampling, 1 residential quarter of each communities, 2 communities of each districts, 5 districts of Chengdu city were randomly selected, and the elderly equal to or more than 60-year-old were on-site investigated. Meanwhile, the questionnaire survey was conducted among healthcare workers in the selected communities. Results There were 4 KAP factors played a positive role in influenza vaccination among elderly people: CHWs’ affirmation of the effectiveness of influenza vaccine, explicitly knowing the focus groups for influenza vaccination, recommendation of vaccination in flu season when the elderly visits, and participation in flu-related education activities. When the accuracy rate of each factor got improved by 1%, the influenza vaccination rate would improve by 2.747%, 1.299%, 0.864%, 0.602%, respectively. Conclusion The knowledge, attitude and practice of HCWs have impacts on the influenza vaccination rates of elderly people. They are significant to improve the influenza vaccination rates of the elderly.
ObjectiveTo comprehensively evaluate the essential public health service in Xinjin county of Chengdu from 2009 to April 2011, so as to provide evidence for improving primary healthcare system reform in Chengdu city. MethodsThe data was collected from the Xinjin county-wide health information system. The electronic health records, chronic disease management, childbirth management and mental health were quantitatively described and compared. Resultsa) In 2010, 88 772 residents had the physical examination and health assessment, among which, 14 497 (16%) were detected with some health problems. The average cost per positive detection was RMB 122.5 yuan. b) Up to April 2011, 98.2% of people in Xinjin county have their health records but the proportions were ranged from 68.08% to 109.02% in different primary healthcare providers. The details of the most health records were incomplete. c) 7 318 patients with hypertension and 2 187 diabetes mellitus were detected, and among them, 90.1% of patients with hypertension and 95.1% of patients with diabetes had their health records for chronic diseases management. d) The rate of stillbirth or neonatal mortality was lower than 4‰. There was no maternal death in the 8 years. But the cesarean section rate was about 61%. e) 97.3% of the patients with mental disorders were supervised in 2010, which was reduced by 2.7% compared to 2009. Conclusionsa) There is low proportion of all the residents in Xinjin having physical examination and health assessment and the rate of diseases detection is low as well. b) There is very wide coverage of health records for residents in Xinjin county, nearly universal coverage. c) The health records for the chronic disease patients were well-established, but the early detection rate of the chronic diseases is low. d) High proportion of the patients with mental disorders is supervised. e) The strategy that only county-level hospitals could provide obstetrical service instead of township hospitals is successful to reduce the neonatal mortality and maternal mortality. However, the cesarean section rate is high. f) It acts, to some extent, as a model to successfully improve the essential public health service and management based on the conuty-wide healthcare information system. However, the data quality, data mining and data utilization should be further improved
Objective To analyze the complaint characteristics of emergency department of women and children’s specialized hospital, and to provide a basis for improving medical service quality, enhancing hospital management, increasing satisfaction, and reducing complaint rates in specialized hospitals. Methods Using the Healthcare Complaint Analysis Tool classification framework, a retrospective analysis was conducted on complaints from the Emergency Department of West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University. Results The total number of complaints from 2020 to 2022 was 525, and the number of complaints had been increasing year by year. There were 196 complaints against personnel and 329 complaints against regions. There were 320 complaints related to management issues (61.0%), 143 complaints related to doctor-patient relationship issues (27.2%), and 62 complaints related to clinical issues (11.8%). The complained areas were mainly fever clinics (193 cases), and the complained personnel were mainly nurses (82 cases). Conclusion The emergency department of women and children’s specialized hospitals is different from comprehensive hospitals, and active optimization should be carried out to address the main issues. While continuously improving the level of medical technology, it is also necessary to strengthen information technology construction, optimize medical procedures, improve environmental facilities, and provide psychological support for patients and their caregivers.