A Consumer Reports study found three metro Atlanta teaching hospitals ranked among the lowest scores for preventing central-line infections in the ICU. These infections stem from improper use of IV tubes that supply medicine and other fluids to ailing patients. 

Taylor Gantt reports on the story from GPB Atlanta

Atlanta Medical Center, Emory University Hospital Midtown and Grady Memorial Hospital ranked among the 31 lowest scoring hospitals nationwide that were covered in the report.

As a whole, Georgia was given the second lowest rating on the scale, meaning slightly less than half of all teaching-hospitals in the state were properly preventing infections. 

The study used a five-point rating system that measured each hospital against the historic average of infection. States like Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin and Hawaii had a majority of their hospitals meet the national target for central line infections

On the other hand, hospitals in southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama failed to meet the national target for prevention.

According to the CDC, more than 27,000 people contracted a central line infection last year. Up to a quarter of those cases proved fatal. Over 600,000 patients contract hospital-related infections each year, making it the eighth deadliest affliction in the nation.

Tags: Public Health  Hospitals  medical errors  Atlanta  Georgia