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Glossary of TAP Terms
This document aims to provide a quick-reference glossary for terms included in the Targeted Assessment for
Prevention (TAP) Strategy promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TAP Reports, and TAP
Dashboards generated by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). For more information about NHSN
surveillance and definitions please visit: www.cdc.gov/nhsn.
Acronyms:
CAD Cumulative Attributable Difference
CAUTI Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection
CDI Clostridium difficile Infection
CLABSI Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection
DUR Device Utilization Ratio
HAI Healthcare-Associated Infection
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
ICU Intensive Care Unit
MRSA Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
NHSN National Healthcare Safety Network
SIR Standardized Infection Ratio
TAP Targeted Assessment for Prevention
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TAP Strategy Terms
Term Definition
TAP Strategy
Targeted Assessment for Prevention Strategy: a data-driven approach that utilizes NHSN data
to prioritize healthcare facilities and specific units within facilities with a disproportionate
burden of HAIs so that gaps in infection prevention locations can be addressed.
The strategy is three-fold:
1. Identify and target facilities and/or location/units with a high CAD
2. Assess prevention efforts and areas for quality improvement in the targeted locations
3. Implement known prevention strategies to improve quality and lower infection rates
TAP Dashboard
An interactive chart display for a facility to view and access TAP Report data that is located
on the NHSN Patient Safety Component Home Page
TAP Report
A table-formatted report that ranks healthcare facilities and patient care locations within these
facilities by the CAD metric in descending order. These reports also contain other applicable
information for prevention of HAIs such as count of HAIs, SIRs, DURs, and pathogen
distributions.
Facility
Assessment Tool
Measurement instruments to assess the gaps in infection prevention in locations within a
targeted facility. The assessment tools are organized by domains that address general infection
control as well as HAI-specific prevention strategies. These tools are designed to be
administered to staff at various levels of a facility, including but not limited to: hospital
administration and front-line staff nurses and physicians.
CAD
Cumulative Attributable Difference: The CAD is the number of infections that must be
prevented within a group, facility, or unit to achieve an HAI reduction goal. The CAD is
calculated by subtracting a numerical prevention target from an observed number of HAIs.
The prevention target is the product of the predicted number of HAIs and a standardized
infection ratio goal (SIR
goal
).
SIR
Standardized Infection Ratio: A summary measure to track HAIs at a location, facility, or
group level for a specified period of time.
SIR = OBSERVED/PREDICTED
The SIR compares the number of observed (reported) HAIs to the number of predicted
HAIs. An SIR greater than 1.0 indicates that more HAIs were observed than predicted,
adjusting for known risk factors and differences in the types of patients followed.
Conversely, an SIR less than 1.0 indicates that fewer HAIs were observed than predicted.
Observed
The observed number of HAIs for a specific location, facility, or group of locations/facilities over
a specified time period. This is also listed as Event Count.
Predicted
Statistically predicted number of HAIs for a specified time period. The predicted number is
derived from NHSN baseline data, adjusting for several factors that may impact the risk of
acquiring an HAI. These metrics and derivations vary for different HAIs.
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SIR
goal
Standardized infection ratio target (used as a multiplier in the CAD formula).
HHS target SIRs are used in the NHSN TAP reports to calculate the CADs
.
The 2020 HHS targets for specific infections are as follows:
CAUTI: Reduce by 25% SIR
goal
= 0.75
CDI: Reduce by 30% SIR
goal
= 0.70
CLABSI: Reduce by 50% SIR
goal
= 0.50
MRSA: Reduce by 50% SIR
goal
= 0.50
While CDC uses HHS targets for the NHSN TAP reports, the SIR
goal
may be adjusted and
specified for any infection ratio target. This functionality will be available in NHSN in a future
release.
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TAP Report Terms
For detailed guides for specific analysis options, please refer to the NHSN Technical Documentation
Term Definition
Facility Org ID Designated ID for each free-standing facility in NHSN
Facility Name User-defined name for each free-standing facility
Location User-defined name for each patient care area
CDC Location
NHSN requires that facilities map each patient care area in their facility to one or
more standardized CDC locations as defined by NHSN in order to report
surveillance data collected from these areas.
Location (I, N, W)
Overall number of locations listed in the aggregate facility grouping. In parentheses,
the counts for specific CDC location types are broken out:
I: Number of intensive care units
N: Number of neonatal intensive care units
W: Number of ward+ units: including step-down units and specialty care areas such
as hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant units.
Type of Affiliation
This code represents medical school affiliation for a facility, as reported to NHSN. If
blank, facility is a non-teaching hospital.
M- Major: Facility has a program for medical students and post-graduate medical
training.
G- Graduate: Facility has a program for post-graduate medical training (i.e.,
residency and/or fellowships).
U –Undergraduate: Facility provides training program(s) for medical students only.
Events
The count of the specified HAIs for the designated time period. This number also
represents the observed number of infections for that HAI type.
CAD
Cumulative Attributable Difference (CAD): The overall number of infections a
facility must prevent to achieve the HAI reduction goal. In parentheses, CADs for
specific location types are broken out (see Location for definitions of groups).
Facility CAD
A summation of the CAD for all locations reporting data (that a group has access to)
for the facility.
Location CAD
A location (unit)-specific CAD. Location CADs are only available for
device-associated infections (i.e., CLABSI and CAUTI).
Rank
The rank is determined by sorting highest to lowest CADs for each group. A rank of
1 identifies the location/facility with the highest number of excess infections in the
designated group.
Facility Rank
A ranking of facilities within a group by CAD on the TAP reports to facilitate
targeting of hospitals for additional prevention efforts.
Location Rank
A ranking of locations within a facility to enable targeting of certain locations/units
for additional prevention efforts. Location rank is only available for
device-associated infections (i.e., CLABSI and CAUTI)
SIR
Standardized Infection Ratio: The ratio of observed/predicted for a facility in the
designated time period.
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Number Predicted
Predicted number of HAIs for a specified time period.
SIR Test
Describes statistical significance of the SIR. If “SIG” is present in the SIR Test column
then the SIR is greater than the SIR goal.
CLABSI Specific TAP Report Terms
DUR % Device Utilization Ratio: The number of device days divided by the number of
patient days. DUR is a measure of device use on a given unit (relative to the number
of patient days) and is shown as a percent. The DURs for specific location types are
broken out in parentheses following the overall DUR (see location for definitions of
groups).
Device Days /
Central Line Days
A count of the number of patients with central lines in the patient care location
during a time period. Device days for specific location types are broken out in
parentheses (see location for definitions of groups). See NHSN website for more
methodology and details.
Events The count of the observed number of CLABSIs in the designated time period. The
count of events for specific location types are broken out in parentheses (see location
for definitions of groups).
Total No. Pathogens Total number of pathogens reported (in order) for all events reported. This number
may be greater than the total events, as multiple pathogens may be reported per
event.
CAUTI Specific TAP Report Terms
DUR %
Device Utilization Ratio: The number of device days divided by the number of
patient days. DUR is a measure of device use on a given unit (relative to the number
of patient days) and is shown as a percent. The DURs for specific location types are
broken out in parentheses following the overall DUR (see location for definitions of
groups).
Device Days /
Urinary Catheter
Days
A count of the number of patients with urinary catheters in the patient care location
during a time period. Device days for specific location types are broken out in
parentheses (see location for definitions of groups). See NHSN website for more
methodology and details.
Events
The count of the observed number of CAUTIs in the designated time period. The
count of events for specific location types are broken out in parentheses (see location
for definitions of groups).
Total No.
Pathogens
Total number of pathogens reported (in order) for all events reported. This number
may be greater than the total events, as multiple pathogens may be reported per
event.
MRSA Specific TAP Report Terms
Type of Facility
The self-identified group for facilities. Facilities are grouped HOSP-GEN are
general acute care hospital. Other facility types include children’s, military hospitals,
women’s hospitals, etc.
Number of Beds
The number of beds set up and staffed, as reported to NHSN.
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Patient Days
A count of the number of patients in the patient care location during a time period.
See NHSN website for methodology and details.
FACWIDEIN
Facility-wide reporting of inpatient areas
MRSA Blood
Incident LabID
Count
Number of MRSA LabID Blood events
CDI Specific TAP Report Terms
Type of Facility
The self-identified group for facilities. Facilities are grouped HOSP-GEN are
general acute care hospital. Other facility types include children’s, military hospitals,
women’s hospitals, etc.
Number of Beds The number of beds set up and staffed, as reported to NHSN.
Patient Days
A count of the number of patients in the patient care location during a time period.
See NHSN website for methodology and details.
FACWIDEIN
Facility-wide reporting of inpatient areas
COHCFA
Prevalence Rate
Community-onset healthcare facility associated CDI prevalence rate per 100
admissions.
CDIF Facility
Incident HO LabID
Event Count
Facility-wide number of observed infections for hospital-onset CDI for specified
time period.
CDIF Facility
Incident HO LabID
Number Expected
Facility -wide predicted number of infections for hospital-onset CDI for specified
time period.
