St. Agnes and Northwestern hospitals are taking steps to improve the care of patients who have undergone surgery after they did not properly medicate 1 out of every 2 people in 2004 and 2005, according to a study by the Hospital Quality Alliance.
Patients at a total of nine Maryland hospitals are often put on antibiotics far longer than the 24-hour limit recommended by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
The guidelines are meant to stop the spread and creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Jennifer Sizemore, spokeswoman for Northwest Hospital in Randallstown, said the hospital has improved its compliance with a more recent study, by the Maryland Health Care Commission, showing its compliance rose to 52 percent.
“This is something we?re working at improving, this indicator of quality,” Sizemore said.
“We do believe it holds merit, but there are some circumstances that our physicians believe that patients need to be on antibiotics for longer than 24 hours.”
Nationally, 67 percent of patients received antibiotics for the appropriate time period, while Maryland hospitals averaged 62 percent, according to the Hospital Quality Alliance.
Six of the nine hospitals that failed to meet guidelines, including Northwestern and St. Agnes, failed to break the 50 percent mark.
Performance has improved this year, said Mike Moriarty, vice president of safety for St. Agnes in Baltimore City.
“Our rate in the first quarter of 2006 is up in the high 60s, and we are quite pleased with the rapid change in that number,” he said.
However, conditions are not improving statewide.
According to the Maryland Health Care Commission report, the Maryland average dropped to 59.7 percent this year.
The study revealed some good news for Maryland patients before surgery.
Hospitals are 6 percent more likely to administer preventive antibiotics than those across the United States. This practice can substantially reduce the chance of infection following surgery.
