Chasing zero: can reality meet the rhetoric?

Objectives: Leaders from healthcare quality, purchasing, and certifying sectors convened at a national leadership meeting held September 8-9, 2008 in Washington, DC to address issues of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs). This paper provides opinion interviews from leaders who spoke at a session entitled "The Quality Choir: A Call to Action For Hospital Executives" on whether zero HAIs should be the goal of our Hospitals.

Methods: The successes of many hospitals in dramatically reducing their infection rates were examined toward goals of "Chasing Zero" infections.

The chasing zero department: making idealized design a reality.

Objectives: Leaders representing healthcare quality, purchasing, and certifying sectors convened at a national leadership meeting to address the issue of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). A session entitled "The Quality Choir: A Call to Action For Hospital Executives" featured harmonization partner organizations for the National Quality Forum Safe Practices (SPs) for Better Healthcare-2009 Update. (NQF SPs) The objective of the meeting was to determine if zero HAIs should be the improvement target for hospitals and what a Chasing Zero Department (CZD) should be like.