Infectious Disease

Predictive analytics has the potential to transform the health care system by using existing data to predict and prevent poor clinical outcomes, provide targeted care, and lower costs. A challenge for health systems is selecting and implementing predictive models within clinical and operational workflows.

To guide health systems through the process of selecting and implementing a predictive model within their system, the UW Health Applied Data Science team and the Health Innovation Program developed a toolkit to support planning for and implementation of a predictive model. This toolkit was tested through the implementation of a sepsis prediction model in the inpatient setting at UW Health, a large Midwestern academic health system with four hospitals.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are an issue of public health importance, as approximately 722,000 people are afflicted by an HAI every year (1 in 25 hospitalized patients) and 75,000 people with HAIs die. Daily bathing treatments with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) for hospitalized patients is one evidence-based intervention targeting HAIs. However, it is often challenging to implement these daily bathing treatments widely across an organization.

HIP Investigators Meghan Brennan, MD and Heidi Brown, MD were recently awarded pilot funding through the University of Wisconsin - Madison Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (UW ICTR).  

Nasia Safdar has been awarded a contract from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to improve research on the prevention and treatment of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Dr. Safdar’s project creates a sustainable panel of older rural Wisconsin patients and their families, and other stakeholders including UW Health Infection Prevention staff and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. To achieve this goal, Dr. Safdar and Researcher Mary Jo Knobloch will collaborate with Dr.

Dr. Chris Crnich was recently awarded a 3-year R18 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for his project, "Building a novel antibiotic stewardship intervention for nursing homes." The objectives of this project are to develop and evaluate a complex intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use in nursing homes.

Dr. Nasia Safdar recently won the John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement. This award recognizes individuals and healthcare provider institutions that are changing the face of healthcare by using innovative programs and approaches that increase patient and family engagement.

Read more about the award and Dr. Safdar's innovative approach to involving patients in reducing infections at EngagingPatients.org.