Updated June 08, 2015.

Reducing hospital acquired conditions like infections, pressure ulcers, falls, and medical errors is important because:

• there is a human cost (life, death, or dismemberment),
• a time cost (staff must take time to fix the condition that has been acquired while in their care),
• and a financial cost (government and private insurers are systematically restricting payment for healthcare acquired conditions, thus pushing the entire cost burden to the healthcare provider).

QC PathFinder(r)

What is QC PathFinder(r)?
QC PathFinder(r), developed by Vecna Medical based in Greenbelt, Maryland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a web-based software program that automates infection surveillance for healthcare providers. The software provides real-time data that supports "the detection of HAIs, reportable communicable diseases, adverse drug events, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and other threats to patient safety." (Vecna Medical)

The software application was developed based on research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

What is the source of the real-time data?
QC PathFinder(r) streams data feeds from ADT, Lab, Pharmacy, and Surgery that can help make healthcare providers aware of the potential for many of the healthcare acquired infections discussed on the About website, such as blood stream infections, urinary tract infections, and ventilator associated pneumonia.

The software takes it a step further by recording and reporting other potential problems for healthcare acquired infections, conditions, or medical errors.

It acts as a database to record and report when a patient has a communicable disease, for example. This notification alerts the staff to treat this patient with appropriate level of isolation so that other patients don't contract the disease while under the care and supervision of the medical facility.

Drug-drug interactions, restricted drug use, and IV to PO conversions are just a few more examples of the type of data that QC PathFinder(r) collects and reports automatically.

How is the data collection presented?
Vecna Medical's software identifies trends and clusters of information so that it can form various types of charts and graphs. This type of visual data allows for faster transmission, communication, and interpretation of the data feeds so that the healthcare team can make decisions to prevent an infection from spreading or an error from occurring. Furthermore, these visual summaries can be tailored by the user to create a dashboard of relevant information and alerts to increase prevention success.

Users can also export the data through the reporting wizard tool to create reports for community, state, and the National Health Safety Network. This feature, like some of the other capabilities above, streamlines work. It removes redundant efforts, saving staff valuable time while they comply with the various agency reporting requirements.

What have been the results so far?
You can see the healthy list of results Vecna Medical lists at the bottom of their product page. For more details, that support their claims, Vecna Medical offers easily accessible phone, e-mail, and postal mail contact information on the same page.

More Information About the Importance Infection Prevention

Infection prevention is a major theme at our website, medicalsupplies.D106. Here, you'll find many articles to guide infection preventionists, clinicians, environmental and facilities staff, and even the executive group, toward making product decisions that will reduce healthcare acquired infection rates.

• 10 Hospital-Acquired Conditions
• 5 Low-Cost Strategies to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia
• 3 Manufacturers Arm Clinicians as they Battle Ventilator Associated Pneumonia
• 4 Strategies to Reduce Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI)
• 9 Skin Care Products for Pressure Ulcer Prevention
• 6 Steps to Prevent Pressure Ulcers, and the Medical Supplies to Help
• Innovations in Proper Wound Care
• Ideas for Reducing Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections
• Infection Prevention Strategies for the Medical Planning Team