Prevention and Management of Healthcare Associated Infections (R18)

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The purpose of this funding opportunity is to fund extramural health services research, demonstration, dissemination, and evaluation grants that propose to prevent and more effectively manage healthcare associated infections (HAIs). The FOA contained herein sets a multi-year research framework, based on the distillation of existing, peer-reviewed research, case studies, the Department of Health and Human Services 2009 National Action Plan on Healthcare-associated Infections, and qualitative information resulting from a series of listening sessions that occurred in selected cities across the United States in 2009.1 HAIs are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions within any healthcare setting. HAIs exact a significant toll on human life, are among the leading causes of preventable death in the United States, and accounted for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002.2 In addition to the substantial human suffering caused by HAIs, the financial burden attributable to such infections is staggering. It is estimated that HAIs result in $28 to $33 billion in excess healthcare costs each year. Research priorities for this FOA are the: 1) development, implementation and demonstration of the prevention and management of HAIs, along with the determination of the costs of such interventions; 2) determination of the efficacy, effectiveness, and costs of preventative interventions; 3) population-level studies on the patient risk factors, clinical presentation, sources, and disease genotypes of antibiotic-resistant organisms that can result in perceived HAIs. The scientific and practical knowledge to be achieved through these research and demonstration efforts will identify the practical and cost-effective approaches to preventing and managing HAIs.

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