Background: Healthcare-associated infections impose a significant burden on antibiotic usage, healthcare expenditures, and morbidity. Therefore, it is crucial to revise policies to minimize such losses. This nationwide survey aimed to evaluate infection prevention and control (IPC) components in healthcare facilities and encourage improvements in acute care hospitals with inadequate infection prevention settings. This study aims to enhance the infection control capabilities of healthcare facilities. Methods: From December 27, 2021, to May 13, 2022, we conducted a survey of 1,767 acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. A survey was conducted to evaluate the infection control components in 1,767 acute care hospitals. Infection control officers provided direct responses to a systematically developed questionnaire. Subsequently, 10% of the respondents were randomly selected for the site investigation. Results: Overall, 1,197 (67.7%) hospitals responded to the online survey. On-site investigations were conducted at 125 hospitals. Hospitals with ≥ 150 beds are advised to have an IPC team under Article 3 of the Medical Service Act; however, only 87.0% (598/687) of hospitals with ≥ 100 beds had one. Conversely, 22.7% (116/510) of hospitals with < 100 beds had an IPC team. Regulations for hand hygiene, waste management, healthcare worker protection and safety, environmental cleaning, standard precautions, and prevention of the transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens were present in 84.2%, 80.1%, 77.4%, 76.2%, 75.8%, and 63.5% of the hospitals, respectively. Hospitals with < 100 beds had low availability of all categories of standard operating procedures. Conclusion This study is the first national survey of acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The data presented in the current study will improve the understanding of IPC status and will help establish a survey system. Our survey provides a basis for improving policies related to IPC in healthcare facilities.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections impose a significant burden on antibiotic usage, healthcare expenditures, and morbidity. Therefore, it is crucial to revise policies to minimize such losses. This nationwide survey aimed to evaluate infection prevention and control (IPC) components in healthcare facilities and encourage improvements in acute care hospitals with inadequate infection prevention settings. This study aims to enhance the infection control capabilities of healthcare facilities. Methods: From December 27, 2021, to May 13, 2022, we conducted a survey of 1,767 acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. A survey was conducted to evaluate the infection control components in 1,767 acute care hospitals. Infection control officers provided direct responses to a systematically developed questionnaire. Subsequently, 10% of the respondents were randomly selected for the site investigation. Results: Overall, 1,197 (67.7%) hospitals responded to the online survey. On-site investigations were conducted at 125 hospitals. Hospitals with ≥ 150 beds are advised to have an IPC team under Article 3 of the Medical Service Act; however, only 87.0% (598/687) of hospitals with ≥ 100 beds had one. Conversely, 22.7% (116/510) of hospitals with < 100 beds had an IPC team. Regulations for hand hygiene, waste management, healthcare worker protection and safety, environmental cleaning, standard precautions, and prevention of the transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens were present in 84.2%, 80.1%, 77.4%, 76.2%, 75.8%, and 63.5% of the hospitals, respectively. Hospitals with < 100 beds had low availability of all categories of standard operating procedures. Conclusion This study is the first national survey of acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The data presented in the current study will improve the understanding of IPC status and will help establish a survey system. Our survey provides a basis for improving policies related to IPC in healthcare facilities.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections impose a significant burden on antibiotic usage, healthcare expenditures, and morbidity. Therefore, it is crucial to revise policies to minimize such losses. This nationwide survey aimed to evaluate infection prevention and control (IPC) components in healthcare facilities and encourage improvements in acute care hospitals with inadequate infection prevention settings. This study aims to enhance the infection control capabilities of healthcare facilities. Methods: From December 27, 2021, to May 13, 2022, we conducted a survey of 1,767 acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. A survey was conducted to evaluate the infection control components in 1,767 acute care hospitals. Infection control officers provided direct responses to a systematically developed questionnaire. Subsequently, 10% of the respondents were randomly selected for the site investigation. Results: Overall, 1,197 (67.7%) hospitals responded to the online survey. On-site investigations were conducted at 125 hospitals. Hospitals with ≥ 150 beds are advised to have an IPC team under Article 3 of the Medical Service Act; however, only 87.0% (598/687) of hospitals with ≥ 100 beds had one. Conversely, 22.7% (116/510) of hospitals with < 100 beds had an IPC team. Regulations for hand hygiene, waste management, healthcare worker protection and safety, environmental cleaning, standard precautions, and prevention of the transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens were present in 84.2%, 80.1%, 77.4%, 76.2%, 75.8%, and 63.5% of the hospitals, respectively. Hospitals with < 100 beds had low availability of all categories of standard operating procedures. Conclusion This study is the first national survey of acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The data presented in the current study will improve the understanding of IPC status and will help establish a survey system. Our survey provides a basis for improving policies related to IPC in healthcare facilities.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections impose a significant burden on antibiotic usage, healthcare expenditures, and morbidity. Therefore, it is crucial to revise policies to minimize such losses. This nationwide survey aimed to evaluate infection prevention and control (IPC) components in healthcare facilities and encourage improvements in acute care hospitals with inadequate infection prevention settings. This study aims to enhance the infection control capabilities of healthcare facilities. Methods: From December 27, 2021, to May 13, 2022, we conducted a survey of 1,767 acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. A survey was conducted to evaluate the infection control components in 1,767 acute care hospitals. Infection control officers provided direct responses to a systematically developed questionnaire. Subsequently, 10% of the respondents were randomly selected for the site investigation. Results: Overall, 1,197 (67.7%) hospitals responded to the online survey. On-site investigations were conducted at 125 hospitals. Hospitals with ≥ 150 beds are advised to have an IPC team under Article 3 of the Medical Service Act; however, only 87.0% (598/687) of hospitals with ≥ 100 beds had one. Conversely, 22.7% (116/510) of hospitals with < 100 beds had an IPC team. Regulations for hand hygiene, waste management, healthcare worker protection and safety, environmental cleaning, standard precautions, and prevention of the transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens were present in 84.2%, 80.1%, 77.4%, 76.2%, 75.8%, and 63.5% of the hospitals, respectively. Hospitals with < 100 beds had low availability of all categories of standard operating procedures. Conclusion This study is the first national survey of acute care hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The data presented in the current study will improve the understanding of IPC status and will help establish a survey system. Our survey provides a basis for improving policies related to IPC in healthcare facilities.

Background: The effectiveness of electronic medical record-based alert systems, response protocols for sepsis diagnosis, and treatment in hospitalized patients remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether the introduction of an electronic medical record-based sepsis response protocol (SRP) along with a 24/7 operating rapid response system affects the prognosis for patients with hospital-onset sepsis. Methods: In August 2022, a SRP based on the National Early Warning Score was implemented in the electronic medical record system at Asan Medical Center. We retrospectively analyzed patients screened by the detection system for 1 year after the SRP implementation. Patients of the first 6 months (preliminary group) and those of the second 6 months (SRP group) were matched 1:1 based on propensity scores. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Results: Of the 608 hospitalized patients screened by the system, 176 were assigned to each group after 1:1 propensity score matching. Patients in the SRP group were significantly more likely to receive blood cultures (58.5%) compared with the preliminary group (45.5%) (P=0.019). The SRP group showed a lower 30-day mortality risk (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36–0.86; P=0.017) compared to the preliminary group. A restricted cubic spline curve showed that SRP survival benefit began to manifest after the first 4 months (P=0.036). Conclusions Alongside an existing rapid response system, the National Early Warning Score-based SRP in the electronic medical record reduced mortality for hospital-onset sepsis within 1 year.

Background/Aims: The quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) is a newly developed risk stratification tool, which has been presented along with a new sepsis definition, to classify infected patients outside of the intensive care unit (ICU). We evaluated the clinical usefulness of qSOFA for predicting adverse outcomes in sepsis patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study to assess the utility of qSOFA in sepsis patients with liver cirrhosis for whom medical emergency teams (METs) were activated in general wards at an academic tertiary care hospital between March 2008 and December 2015. qSOFA, Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), modified early warning score (MEWS), and sequential (sepsis- related) organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were calculated according to data at MET activation. Results: Of 188 patients, 69 (36.7%) had a qSOFA score of 0 or 1 point and 119 (63.3%) had ≥ 2 points. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for ICU transfer on the SOFA (AUROC, 0.691; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.615 to 0.767) or MEWS (AUROC, 0.663; 95% CI, 0.586 to 0.739) were significantly higher compared to those for qSOFA (AUROC, 0.589; 95% CI, 0.507 to 0.671) or SIRS (AUROC, 0.533; 95% CI, 0.451 to 0.616). Conclusions Our findings suggest that qSOFA score may have limited utility in predicting adverse outcomes in sepsis patients with liver cirrhosis at MET activation. Either MEWS or another screening tool is needed for detecting early sepsis in these patients.