Central Line Infection

Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) continues to be one of the most deadly and costly hospital-associated infections in the US. Many lives have been saved in the past decade due to improvements that resulted in a 58 percent reduction of CLABSI in intensive care patients from 2001 to 2009. However, these infections continue to occur and more occur in other areas of the hospital outside the ICU.

Strategies to prevent these infections include the IHI Central Line Bundle, implemented by many hospitals in the US and UK and resulting in dozens achieving more than one year of no CLABSI in their ICU patients. Additional strategies have been identified by clinical experts at SHEA and CDC, adding to the growing evidence base as we strive to eliminate all of these deadly infections.

Central Line Insertion Checklist
Implementing a central line checklist at the time of insertion will help to ensure a reliable process.
How-to Guide: Prevent Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection
This How-to Guide describes key evidence-based care components of the IHI Central Line Bundle which has been linked to prevention of central line-associated bloodstream infections, describes how to implement these interventions, and recommends measures to gauge improvement.

Getting Started: How to Improve

Learn about the Model for Improvement, forming the improvement team, setting aims, establishing measures, and selecting and testing changes. Go to How to Improve.

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Understanding Bundles: An IHI Faculty Conversation

IHI faculty for the Rethinking Critical Care seminar discuss and try to clarify some important and often misunderstood points about implementing care bundles (such as the Ventilator Bundle and the Central Line Bundle).
Effect of Nonpayment for Preventable Infections in US Hospitals

This study examined rates of healthcare-associated infections deemed preventable by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, such as catheter-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonias.
Profiles in Improvement: Katharine Luther, Vice President, IHI

IHI Vice President Kathy Luther describes her career in health care quality improvement, and how her current IHI work includes getting finance and clinicians to work together to impact cost and quality.
Using Care Bundles to Improve Health Care Quality

This IHI white paper describes the history, theory of change, design concepts, and outcomes associated with the development and use of bundles — a small set of evidence-based interventions for a defined patient population and care setting — and reflects on learning over the past decade.
Measures: Prevent Central Line Infection

Care teams should measure each of the evidence-based interventions recommended by the How-to Guide: Prevent Central Line Infection.

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