A bloodstream infection from a central line, a urinary infection linked to a catheter, or an infection after surgery can turn a routine hospital stay into a serious complication.
The encouraging news is that hospital-acquired infections are declining in many U.S. hospitals. The improvement reflects something less dramatic than a single medical breakthrough: hospitals are getting better at consistently applying proven infection-prevention practices.
For patients, fewer hospital-acquired infections can mean fewer complications, shorter recoveries and less exposure to unnecessary antibiotics.
Hospital-acquired infections: What are they?
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are infections that develop while a person is receiving medical care and were not present or developing when the patient arrived.
Common examples include:
- Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs)
- Surgical-site infections (SSIs)
- Hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections
- Ventilator-associated events
HAIs remain an important patient-safety issue. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that more than 1 million HAIs occur across the U.S. healthcare system each year. (AHRQ)
The numbers show meaningful progress
The latest CDC National Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report shows significant improvement in several major infection categories.
Among U.S. acute-care hospitals, 2024 saw:
- 9% fewer CLABSIs
- 10% fewer CAUTIs
- 4% fewer surgical-site infections after colon surgery
- 7% fewer hospital-onset MRSA bloodstream infections
- 11% fewer hospital-onset C. diff infections
- 2% fewer ventilator-associated events
The improvement is encouraging, although not every category moved in the same direction. Surgical-site infections following abdominal hysterectomy increased 8% in 2024 compared with 2023. (ARPSP)
That distinction matters. Patient safety is improving overall, but infection prevention is not a problem that hospitals can declare solved.
Why are hospital infections declining?
The biggest gains often come from doing basic things consistently.
1. Safer use of medical devices
Central lines and urinary catheters can be lifesaving, but they can also create opportunities for bacteria to enter the body.
Hospitals increasingly ask an important question every day: Does this patient still need the device?
Removing an unnecessary catheter or central line can eliminate an infection risk altogether. For central lines, recommended prevention strategies include hand hygiene, full sterile barriers during insertion, appropriate skin antisepsis and prompt removal when the line is no longer needed. (AHRQ)
2. Better hand hygiene and standardized procedures
Hand hygiene remains one of the simplest and most important infection-prevention measures.
Hospitals also use standardized procedures and checklists for high-risk activities. These approaches reduce variation between caregivers and make it easier for teams to identify when an important safety step has been missed.
The goal is not simply creating another checklist. It is making the safest approach the routine approach.
3. Better data
Hospitals now have more sophisticated ways to track infections and compare their performance over time.
The CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network provides standardized data that helps hospitals and health systems identify trends and areas where additional prevention efforts are needed. The CDC uses standardized infection ratios to compare infection levels with a national baseline. (CDC Stacks)
Measurement also makes improvement visible. When hospitals can see that infections are concentrated on a particular unit or associated with a specific device, they can focus resources where they are most needed.
COVID-19 showed how quickly progress can reverse
The decline in infections has not been a straight line.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced extraordinary pressure. Critically ill patients required more invasive devices, staffing shortages became widespread, and infection-control practices had to adapt rapidly.
The experience demonstrated an important lesson: patient safety systems need to work even when hospitals are under extreme stress.
That means adequate staffing, infection-prevention expertise and reliable processes are just as important as the clinical technology being used.
Antibiotics are part of the safety equation
Preventing infections also helps reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
Antibiotics can be lifesaving when they are needed, but inappropriate use can increase the risk of C. diff infections and contribute to antimicrobial resistance.
Hospital antibiotic stewardship programs help clinicians choose the appropriate medication, dose and duration and reassess treatment as more information becomes available. The CDC’s hospital antibiotic stewardship guidanceidentifies stewardship as an important part of improving patient care and combating antimicrobial resistance. (CDC)
The CDC’s current C. diff guidance also emphasizes environmental cleaning, appropriate isolation and antibiotic stewardship. (CDC)
What can patients do?
Patients and caregivers should not have to carry the responsibility for infection prevention. That is primarily the hospital’s job.
Still, patients can participate in their own safety.
It is reasonable to ask:
- Do I still need this catheter or central line?
- What is being done to prevent an infection?
- How should I care for my surgical wound after discharge?
- How long do I need this antibiotic?
Patients can also remind caregivers about hand hygiene when appropriate and make sure their medication list and allergies are accurate.
After leaving the hospital, follow the discharge instructions and contact the healthcare team if you develop concerning symptoms such as fever, increasing redness or drainage from a surgical wound, severe diarrhea, confusion or breathing difficulties.
The next challenge: Making improvement permanent
The decline in hospital-acquired infections is an important patient-safety success. But the next challenge is making those gains reliable across every hospital, unit and shift.
Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics may eventually help hospitals identify patients at greater risk. But technology cannot replace hand hygiene, sterile technique, environmental cleaning or removing unnecessary medical devices.
The biggest lesson may be the simplest: preventing hospital infections works when proven practices are performed consistently.
Fewer infections mean fewer complications that patients never needed to experience in the first place. That is one of the clearest measures of better healthcare.