Hospital infection rates

Here are the top and bottom performers in 10 states where hospitals are publicly reporting the numbers of central-line-related bloodstream infections in their intensive-care units. The number next to each state's name indicates how many hospitals we analyzed for that state as of December 2009. The hospital infection rate shows how well each hospital performed compared with the national average for its mix of ICUs (cardiac, surgical, etc.). We included only hospitals that had more than 1,000 central-line days (total days that all patients spent on central lines during the reporting period). And no, that's not a misprint: The worst performers in Rhode Island and Vermont had lower-than-average hospital infection rates—but not zero.

Can't find your state listed among the 10 below? See additional reports that have recently become available for Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. Compare more than 3,600 hospitals (subscribers only) on a range of characteristics, including bloodstream infection data where available.

Additional information on state infection reporting and infection prevention is available at Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project. Check out central-line-associated bloodstream-infection rates and other data derived from hospitals' voluntary submissions to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.