Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections by More Than Half with Epic

At Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, providers are focused on a simple goal: zero patient harm by 2026. Using Epic to identify and intervene when patients are at higher risk of infection, Piedmont reduced hospital-acquired infection rates by more than half in less than two years. From 2016 to 2022, infection rates decreased by 7% for CLABSI, 83% C. diff, and 50% for  CAUTI*, with an overall reduction rate of 58% system-wide, saving 10 lives and $5.2 million each year.

To accomplish this reduction, Piedmont’s Quality Improvement and IT teams worked with nurses to design role-specific workflows in Epic for better adherence to best practices for line insertion and maintenance. Providers and managers track patients’ risk of infection and required documentation for the shift in real time. Managers also track metrics such as linen changes and baths, to ensure success with Piedmont’s Clean 4 You initiative, which focuses on a clean hospital environment and keeping patients clean.

“This was a true collaboration between the quality department and frontline nurses,” said James DiAngelo, Director of Nursing Practice and Governance. “The result is a real-time, easy to use tool to drive bundle compliance and reduce HAIs and improve outcomes for our patients.”

Read more from Piedmont Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review. Epic community members can learn more from Piedmont’s XGM slides and audio.

Piedmont Healthcare is one of several Epic community members working to reduce HAIs, including Rush University Medical Center and UW Health.

*This article originally reported data from 2016 to 2018. It was updated with more recent data in July 2022.