Valued Voice

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2024 HAI Progress Report shows continued national declines in several key health care associated infections (HAI), including reductions in healthcare onset Clostridioides difficile, Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from 2023 to 2024. CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most widely used HAI surveillance system, is a shared resource for HAI prevention. More than 38,000 active hospitals, long-term care facilities and other health care facilities provide data to NHSN. In turn, the data is used for national-and state-level analyses, including the HAI Progress Report, and for targeted prevention initiatives by health care facilities, states, regions, quality groups and national public health agencies, including the CDC. The report reinforces the value of strong prevention practices and routine use of surveillance data to target areas for improvement. These national trends provide an important backdrop for understanding the progress occurring in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin continues to demonstrate strong leadership in HAI prevention, with performance that aligns closely with, and in some areas exceeds, the national improvements identified by the CDC. Through the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s CheckPoint website, one of the nation’s longest running voluntary hospital transparency initiatives, Wisconsin has provided clear, comparable quality and patient safety data for over 20 years. CheckPoint’s more recent reporting (covering 7/1/24–6/30/25) shows significant statewide progress, including a 23% reduction in CAUTI and a 22% reduction in CLABSI, along with continued improvement in MRSA. These results reflect Wisconsin’s sustained commitment to transparency, data driven decision making and continuous improvement in infection prevention practices.