Percent of Surgery Patients Who Received the Appropriate Preventive Antibiotic(s) for Their Surgery

Why Is This Treatment Important?

Certain antibiotics are recommended to help prevent wound infection for particular types of surgery. This measure looks at how often hospital surgical patients get the appropriate antibiotic in order to prevent a surgical wound infection.

Infections continue to be the main preventable complication of most surgical procedures. Antibiotics are medicines to prevent and treat infections. By following the standard guidelines for timing and giving you the correct antibiotic drug, hospitals can reduce your risk of getting a wound infection after surgery.

Hospitals can reduce the risk of wound infection after surgery by making sure patients get the right medicines at the right time on the day of their surgery. These quality measures show some of the standards of care.

What the Scores Mean

Higher percentages are better.

About the Data

The data on this site is reported to the Department of Health and Human Services and is updated on a quarterly basis. It represents patient care data from July 2010 through June 2011, which was released in May 2012. The explanation of the data is courtesy of the Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, please visit the Hospital Compare website.