September 14, 2011 (CHICAGO) ICNet International Ltd, a UK corporation and the global leader in Infection Prevention surveillance software serving over 1000 hospitals globally, announced it has opened its North American office in Warrenville, Illinois, led by local technology executive, Adam Boris.
Adam Boris, CEO for ICNet Systems, Inc. stated, “The Chicago area is the perfect location to create and build our North American operations. Chicago is home to internationally respected hospitals, some of the finest universities in North America, and a very vibrant healthcare and technology community.”
“ICNet Systems has begun the process of building our North American operations in the Chicagoland area. We are actively developing national and regional sales teams in the U.S. and Canada. We are also actively seeking marketing, IT support professionals, and administrative personnel. In addition, we are aggressively developing relationships with North American value added resellers and channel partners.”
As dramatized by the recent release of the movie Contagion, many are reminded of the potential risks of community acquired infections. In reality, however, there is a silent killer in America’s hospitals - hospital acquired infections. In fact, one out of 20 hospitalized patients is affected by Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). According to the CDC, HAIs are one of the top ten leading causes of death in the US, killing more Americans each year than AIDS, breast cancer, and auto accidents combined. There were an estimated 1.7 million HAIs causing 99,000 deaths in 2002.
- The mortality rate for patients with a hospital-acquired infection was 12.9% compared to 2.3% for patients without an HAI. Many hospitals defend several legal claims each year for HAI liability.
- Medicare no longer allows cost recovery for infections acquired more than 48 hours after admission. Medicaid and many private insurers have followed suit and restricted or reduced HAI claims.
- The average length of stay for patients with HAIs is extended by 16.1 days, resulting in average excess costs of $16,471 per stay. ($4.7M in annual excess cost for an average hospital.)
- There is an increasing risk of “super bugs” spreading throughout the healthcare system. In a 2007 study of 28,000 reported HAIs, ~16% were found to be Multiple Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs), of which 50% were MRSA.
New figures published 12th January, 2011 by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) show that NHS Fife, a hospital using ICNet software, continues to make significant progress in reducing HAIs. Case numbers in Fife for July to September 2010 fell to 0.28 cases per 1000 occupied bed days - 19% down from the previous quarter, 80% down from the same period two years ago, and 40% below the national average.
Discussing the importance of establishing a North American headquarters to provide state-of-the-art HAI surveillance technology in the U.S. and Canada, Boris continued, “We understand the burden of increased demands for government reporting for the NHSN, Medicare (CMS) benchmarking and trending, and compliance with core measures. With 9% of all CMS revenue soon to be at risk and national media attention focused on infection rates and patient safety, the need for an automated electronic reporting tool for IPs has never been greater.”
ICNet Systems is proud to sponsor the Chicago Patient Safety Summit (CPSS) along with CHEF (Chicago Healthcare Executives Forum), the University of Illinois Medical Center, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Many other prominent organizations have joined in sponsoring the event, including the Chicago Medical Society, the Illinois Hospital Association, and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE). CPSS is being held from September 13th to the 15th at University of Illinois – Chicago Forum, with an exceptional panel of healthcare and patient safety leaders, including Dr. Howard K. Koh, who serves as the Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and James M. Galloway, MD, Assistant US Surgeon General. Over 300 medical and executive leaders are expected to attend.