Build upon basics: An intervention utilizing safety huddles to achieve near-zero incidence of catheter associated urinary tract infection at a department of Veterans Affairs long-term care facility.

Background: When traditional interventions are used in long term care for catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention, residual rates are still high despite a decrease. We conducted a quality improvement study focusing our interventions on patient and staff behavioral patterns identified through a structured huddle process to improve upon the basics for CAUTI prevention.

Methods: Baseline was from January 2016 to March 2017; the intervention period was from April 2017 to June 2020. We implemented a systematic huddle to determine root cause of each CAUTI and applied lessons throughout the facility. We measured the monthly CAUTI incidence per 1000 urinary catheter days and analyzed the reduction in CAUTI during the intervention period.

Results: CAUTI decreased by 73% during the intervention period compared to the baseline period, with an IRR of 0.27 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11-0.66; P = .004). The number of catheter days per month increased by 4% in the intervention period (17,407 in 39 months) compared to the baseline period (6,440 in 15 months) with IRR of 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.07; P = .008). No patterns were noted in organisms responsible for CAUTI.

Conclusions: Our findings stress the importance of looking beyond the traditional interventions for CAUTI prevention in long term care population. By doing this, interventions can be customized for this special population to achieve optimal outcomes.