The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently begun to use its National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) to expand its role beyond the traditional federal germ police, becoming more influential on issues such as how care should be delivered in hospitals and physician practices. Cheryl Clark of HealthLeaders wrote an article, “CDC Expanding Quality of Care Efforts,” providing details of an interview with Denise Cardo, MD, director of the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, regarding what doctors and hospitals might expect in the near future.

While the CDC’s focus appears to be shifting towards care delivery and quality, Cardo clarifies that the focus is merely expanding to account for the clear connection between healthcare delivery and the issue of public health. The NHSN is a great tool for gathering and publishing data that draws attention to the issue of healthcare infections, or diseases contracted in hospitals, as well as getting different hospitals to follow the same definitions and utilize the same data collection technology. Research gathered by the NHSN about which hospitals have more infections has enabled the CDC to craft campaigns and papers about more careful use of antibiotics, methods to guard against drug diversion, and the promotion of injection safety practices.

In the near future, the CDC plans to use its data gathering program to make advances on antimicrobial resistance, helping to capture data on resistant strains in clinics and hospitals. Once the NHSN can gather data electronically the focus will shift to extending the ability to collect other information like adverse drug events and medication errors. Programs are even being made for nursing homes and their capability to report data of their own. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention won’t abandon its major focus of handling disease outbreaks, but it is ready and able to begin expanding its capabilities to work with hospitals and clinics in staving off disease and outbreaks before they even occur.

What do you think of the CDC’s expanding role? Do you think this will benefit American “healthcare consumers” in the long run? Let us know in the comments below.

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