Prevention of Post-Surgical Infections
With surgery, one of the biggest concerns is post-surgical infection, which affects 2% to 5% of the 16 million patients undergoing surgical procedures each year in acute care hospitals. These infections can raise the risk of complications and death after surgery.
Post-surgical infection can be prevented and treated by medicines called antibiotics. This information shows how closely BIDMC is following recommended guidelines for surgical care in order to reduce the risk of infection as well as the side effects of antibiotics. Learn what you can do to reduce the chances of getting an infection.
Administering Timely Medication
What are we measuring?
The percent of surgery patients who receive preventative antibiotics within one hour prior to surgical incision.
Why is this important?
Patients can develop infections when they undergo surgery. Hospitals take several steps to prevent infections, including giving a preventative antibiotic right before surgery.
What does our performance tell us?
BIDMC reports its performance on this measure every quarter to the US Department of Health & Human Services, which posts this information on its website at Hospital Compare. The chart below shows BIDMC's most recent quarterly performance for the timely administration of antibiotics prior to surgery, compared to the performance of the nation's Top 10% hospitals. Look for big differences in the scores in order to be sure the difference is meaningful. Small differences may not reflect real differences in performance (i.e., they may not be statistically significant)."" 
Source of comparison data: Hospital Compare, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, December 2012.
View our past performance over time.
According to Hospital Compare, 100% of patients at the nation's Top 10% of hospitals are given the appropriate medicines at the right time to reduce the risk of wound infection. At BIDMC, 100% of patients are given the appropriate medicines at the right time to reduce the risk of wound infection. Therefore, BIDMC's performance meets the Top 10% of the nation's hospitals for giving patients the appropriate medicines at the right time to reduce the risk of wound infection.
Reducing Risks Associated with Antibiotics
What are we measuring?
The percent of surgery patients whose preventative antibiotic(s) are stopped within 24 hours after surgery ends.
Why is this important?
In most cases, it is not necessary to continue giving patients antibiotics more than 24 hours after the surgery. Administering this medication beyond that point increases the risk of side effects and can cause bacteria to become resistant to the medication.
What does our performance tell us?
BIDMC reports its performance on this measure every quarter to the US Department of Health & Human Services, which posts this information on its website at Hospital Compare. The chart below shows BIDMC's most recent quarterly performance for stopping antibiotic post surgery, compared to the performance of the nation's Top 10% hospitals. Look for big differences in the scores in order to be sure the difference is meaningful. Small differences may not reflect real differences in performance (i.e., they may not be statistically significant)."" 
Source of comparison data: HospitalCompare, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, December 2012
View our past performance over time.
According to Hospital Compare, 100% of patients at the nation's Top 10% of hospitals receiving antibiotics before surgery will have those antibiotics stopped on time. At BIDMC, 98% of patients receiving antibiotics before surgery had those antibiotics stopped on time. Therefore, BIDMC's performance is just below the Top 10% of the nation's hospitals for discontinuing antibiotics within 24 hours after surgery.
What are we doing to improve our performance?
BIDMC continues to work to improve our performance by focusing closely on those surgeries that most often use antibiotics before surgery and educating staff about the need to minimize antibiotics in the postoperative phase of surgery unless an infection exists.
Selecting Appropriate Antibiotics
What are we measuring?
The percent of patients receiving appropriate antibiotics.
Why is this important?
The appropriateness of an antibiotic depends on the type of procedure being performed and assessment of the patient. By selecting and administering antibiotics that are consistent with current guidelines, which are specific to each type of surgical procedure, hospitals can significantly reduce the risk of an infection after surgery.
What does our performance tell us?
BIDMC reports its performance on this measure every quarter to the US Department of Health & Human Services, which posts this information on its website at Hospital Compare. The chart below shows BIDMC's most recent quarterly performance for the selection of appropirate antibiotics for surgery patients, compared to the performance of the nation's Top 10% hospitals. Look for big differences in the scores in order to be sure the difference is meaningful. Small differences may not reflect real differences in performance (i.e., they may not be statistically significant)."" 
Source of comparison data: HospitalCompare, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, December 2012
View our past performance over time.
According to Hospital Compare, 100% of patients at the nations Top 10% of hospitals receive the most appropriate antibiotic to reduce the risk of infection from surgery. At BIDMC, 99% of patients received the most appropriate medication. Therefore, BIDMC's performance is just below the Top 10% of the nation's hospitals' performance on this measure.
What are we doing to improve our performance?
BIDMC physicians developed clinical practice guidelines for the ordering of antibiotics, and are working to standardize the selection and ordering of antibiotics across surgery departments. Click here to learn more about our efforts.
Last updated: April 3, 2013