Healthcare Associated Infections

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs)

People can get infections from hospitals, surgery centers or other places that offer health care. This is a big public health problem. About 1 in 25 U.S. hospital patients is diagnosed with at least one infection related to hospital care each year according to CDC.  

All hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities know that stopping HAIs is vital. These HAIs are still a major cause of disease, loss of life and high medical costs. So, laws were put in place to report these infections to the public. There are ways to help manage and prevent them. We created a system to track HAIs. We require general hospitals and surgery centers to report the following HAIs: 

  • Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs): These are infections in the blood that happen when a central line (tube that carries medicine and other treatments into a patient’s body) is used in a patient. 

  • Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs): These are infections in a patient’s urinary tract (often referred to as a urinary tract infection or UTI) after a tube is placed in a patient that allows urine to pass out of the patient.  

  • Surgical Site Infections (SSIs): These infections happen in a patient’s body after the patient has surgery. 

Popular Resources

Report HAIs

Find information on the Texas Reporting Requirements and get help navigating the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and the Texas Healthcare Safety Network (TxHSN).

Review HAI data

Find a report on HAI data for a specific hospital or ambulatory surgery center in the state of Texas.

HAI Resources, Guidance and Training

Get training materials and resources for infection preventionists and learn how to use HAI reporting tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Read common questions and answers about Healthcare Associated Infections.

HAI Audit Tools

Ask Us Your HAI questions!

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