The Impact of Contact Isolation on the Quality of Inpatient Hospital Care
2011

The Impact of Contact Isolation on the Quality of Inpatient Hospital Care

Sample size: 6716 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Morgan Daniel J., Day Hannah R., Harris Anthony D., Furuno Jon P., Perencevich Eli N.

Primary Institution: University of Maryland, School of Medicine

Hypothesis

Does Contact Isolation negatively affect the quality of hospital care for inpatients?

Conclusion

Contact Isolation was associated with lower adherence to some pneumonia quality of care process measures but did not impact CHF, AMI, or SCIP measures.

Supporting Evidence

  • Contact Isolation was associated with not meeting 4 of 23 individual hospital measures.
  • Contact Isolation was independently associated with lower compliance with the composite pneumonia process-of-care measure.
  • Patients on Contact Isolation had approximately half as many healthcare worker visits.

Takeaway

When patients are put in Contact Isolation to prevent infections, they might not get the same quality of care, especially for pneumonia.

Methodology

The study evaluated four retrospective diagnosis-based cohorts from a 662-bed tertiary-care medical center, analyzing compliance with process of care quality measures.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to the study being conducted at a single center and the retrospective nature of the data.

Limitations

The study was conducted at a single center, which may limit generalizability, and used retrospective administrative data.

Participant Demographics

Patients were adults aged 18 and older, with a mix of diagnoses including AMI, CHF, PNA, and SCIP.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.01

Confidence Interval

95% CI 0.1–0.7

Statistical Significance

p<0.01

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0022190

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