Each year in the United States, hospitals and clinics purchase more than 150 million intravascular devices for administration of intravenous fluids, medications, and blood products, hemodynamic monitoring, and to provide hemodialysis. Approximately 248,000 bloodstream infections occur annually in the United States; a large proportion of the infections are related particularly to central venous catheters (CVCs).

New guidelines have been recently published concerning the management of intravascular catheter-related infections. A lead author of the guidelines, Dr. Naomi O’Grady said in a statement, “catheter-related bloodstream infections – like many infections in health care – are now seen as largely preventable …implementation of these critical infection control guidelines is an important benchmark of health care quality and patient safety.” The guidelines come at a critical time when, starting this past year, hospitals now must track and report on central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in their intensive care units or risk losing 2% of their Medicare payments. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services set a national goal of reducing central-line associated blood stream infections by 50% by 2013. This webinar will focus on the new guidelines and multidisciplinary effort necessary to minimize CLABSIs.

Objectives
1. Describe the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs)
2. Evaluate new guidelines for the management of CRBSIs
3. Discuss multidisciplinary strategies to minimize CRBSIs and decrease healthcare costs associated with CRBSIs