Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is a significant quality and patient safety issue; the Joint Commission added the reduction of CAUTI part of the National Patient Safety Goals in 2013. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) considers CAUTI potentially preventable and will not reimburse hospitals for the additional cost of caring for patients with CAUTI. Despite all of this, rates remain high nationally, only decreasing 6% in since the CMS decision. The Michigan Health and Hospital Association's Keystone Center, the same group that developed a group of practices or "bundle" to decrease central venous line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI), has developed a Keystone Bladder Bundle Initiative. This bundle consists of prompts and reminders or nurse initiated catheter removal protocols, alternatives to indwelling catheters, portable bladder ultrasound monitoring and specified insertion care and maintenance. As they did with CLABSI, this group reports significantly decreasing CAUTI rates by 25%.

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