Organizations in 10 states are undertaking a project to test methods of reducing central-line-associated blood stream infections in hospital ICUs by 80%, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced. The organizations include three patient safety groups — the California Hospital Patient Safety Organization, the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety, and the Ohio Patient Safety Institute — and the hospital associations in those states, as well as the hospital associations in Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.

The agency awarded a three-year, $3 million contract to the Health Research & Educational Trust to coordinate the project, which will provide tools to help healthcare professionals identify opportunities to reduce potential healthcare-associated infections and implement policies for safer care.

The project has already been implemented in Michigan, where infections rates fell to zero in more than half of the participating hospital ICUs within three months.