Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D
founder: RID, Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths

Monday, October 16, 2005
12:30 - 1:30pm
Banker's Club, San Francisco
Print Invitation

HOSPITAL INFECTIONS KILL AN ESTIMATED 103,000 PEOPLE in this country each year, as many deaths as from AIDS, breast cancer, and auto accidents combined. The suffering is staggering. So is the economic cost. Hospital infections add $30.5 billion to the nation’s health care tab in hospital costs alone, enough to pay for the entire Medicare Part D prescription drug program. We have the knowledge to solve this problem. In fact, hospital infections are largely preventable through improvements in hygiene.

The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID), was established by Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D, to motivate hospitals to make infection prevention a top priority; to provide patients with information on how to protect themselves; to educate future doctors and nurses on how to stop bacteria from spreading patient to patient; and to show hospitals the financial benefits of infection prevention. RID provides compelling economic evidence that preventing infections can make the difference between profitability and loss for a hospital.

Dr. McCaughey is a health policy expert and the former Lt. Governor of New York State. She has taught at Columbia University and held academic appointments in health policy at the Hudson Institute and the Manhattan Institute. She has written hundreds of articles for publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Modern Healthcare, and The New Republic, as well as receiving numerous awards for her writings, including a National Magazine Award. Her research on how to prevent infection deaths has been featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, CBS’s “The Morning Show”, “20/20”, “Dateline NBC”, and many other national television and radio programs. Dr. McCaughey’s steps that patients can take to help themselves from infection were recently featured in the Wall Street Journal. RID’s goal is always the same: to save lives!

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