**GAO-08-283**                      Published: Mar 31, 2008. Publicly Released: Apr 16, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health-care-associated infections (HAI) are estimated to be 1 of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. HAIs are infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for other conditions. GAO was asked to examine (1) CDC's guidelines for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs and what the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does to promote their implementation, (2) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) and hospital accrediting organizations' required standards for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs and how compliance is assessed, and (3) HHS programs that collect data related to HAIs and integration of the data across HHS. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed officials from CDC, CMS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and accrediting organizations.

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## Topics

Health Care

Avoidable hospital conditionsBest practicesData collectionData integrityDisease controlDisease surveillanceHealth and behavioral care standardsHealth care facilitiesHealth care policiesHealth data repositoryHealth hazardsHealth services administrationHospital care servicesHospitalsInfectious diseasesInternal controlsPractice guidelinesProgram evaluationPublic healthStandardsStandards evaluationSystems integrationProgram implementation