New Mexico MRSA Collaborative

New Mexico hospitals are invited to join a new statewide methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) collaborative. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC) is partnering with rural and urban acute care and long-term care facilities in the state to implement this collaborative that is aimed at reducing health care-associated bacteremias caused by MRSA.

MRSA accounts for 50 percent to 60 percent of all S. aureus isolates in local laboratories and causes an estimated 400 bloodstream infections and 113 deaths yearly in the state. Collaborative participants will:

• Gather baseline and post-intervention data on MRSA bacteremias
• Implement the "MRSA bundle" of interventions
• Provide monthly data to the collaborative organizers on process and outcome measures

The collaborative involves workshops for knowledge sharing and will address development of community standards of infection control, data collection tools, educational materials for the public and providers, and data analysis. The goal of the collaborative is to decrease the rate of health care-associated MRSA bloodstream infections per 1,000 patient days by 40 percent in the participating facilities over 12 months.

Access an introductory Webinar and presentation given on May 13, 2008, to learn more about the collaborative and to get the answers to these questions:

• What is the clinical and financial impact of MRSA in your facility?
• What are the potential changes in accreditation, regulatory and reimbursement changes around MRSA?
• Why is MRSA a major threat to patient safety?
• What are some of the evidence-based successful methods of MRSA control?
• What are the specific goals of this New Mexico MRSA collaborative?

This project operates under the guidance of an expert steering committee with representatives from the:

• New Mexico Medical Review Association (NMMRA)
• New Mexico Department of Health
• Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology-New Mexico
• Infectious Diseases Society of New Mexico
• New Mexico Medical Society
• New Mexico Hospital Association

The New Mexico MRSA Collaborative is funded through a Patient Safety Grant awarded to UNMHSC from the Cardinal Health Foundation. NMMRA has been contracted to carry out the administrative functions of the collaborative, organize and facilitate workshops, provide educational materials, arrange site visits, and collect data. For more information, contact Anne Timmins, NMMRA project coordinator, at (505) 998-9754.

The Cardinal Health Patient Safety Grant Program is designed to provide funding for programs that propose imaginative strategies to address challenges to quality health care. The goal is to promote creative thinking, therefore advancing innovation and improvement to patient care in general.

Collaborative Prework Activity Packet 

Useful MRSA Resources