Team of doctors having a meeting in the meeting room

AHRQ’s new Toolkit To Promote Safe Surgery helps hospitals reduce Surgical Site Infections (SSIs). Based on the experiences of frontline providers in approximately 200 hospitals that participated in a national implementation project and successfully reduced SSIs, the toolkit was adapted from AHRQ’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to the surgical setting.

Toolkit strategies can help prevent infections that may occur with surgical procedures including colorectal surgery and hysterectomies, two areas tracked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for hospital-acquired conditions.

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are a threat to patient safety and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Healthcare infection prevention has always been a focus of our prevention efforts. To help slow the global threat of antibiotic resistance, we are assisting outpatient healthcare providers and nursing homes develop or strengthen antibiotic stewardship programs and improve infection control practices. Learn more.