Infections in hospitalized patients: what is happening and who can help?

The continuing emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria calls for new approaches to the management and treatment of infections in hospitalized patients. Health care-associated infections cause substantial morbidity and mortality while driving up health care resource use and costs worldwide. The continued spread of antimicrobial resistance requires a multidisciplinary approach and closer collaboration among health care providers, especially hospitalists, pharmacists, infection control practitioners, and infectious disease specialists. Such collaboration can potentially reduce treatment failures and minimize the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms between health care settings and the community.