hospital acquired infections

The North American porcupine has a cute face, but it has upward of 30,000 menacing quills covering much of its body. The slow-moving herbivore uses them as a last-resort defense against predators. Lindsay Wildlife Experience hide caption

Each year, hundreds of hospitals lose 1 percent of their Medicare payments through the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program. The penalties — now in their fourth year — were created by the Affordable Care Act to drive hospitals to improve the quality of their care. Maskot/Getty Images hide caption

C. diff infections, which rose for decades, are now falling, according to the CDC. David Phillips/Science Source hide caption

Nursing homes and hospitals need to work harder to keep water systems from being contaminated with bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease, the CDC says. Getty Images hide caption

Wounds infected with antibiotic-resistant staph often heal, but the bacteria can remain inside a person's body and cause future infections. Michelle Kondrich for NPR hide caption

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles has been penalized in all three years since the creation of a Medicare program to reduce patient-safety issues in hospitals. FG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images hide caption

Four days after Rory Staunton cut himself in gym class, he died from septic shock. Courtesy of Rory Staunton Foundation hide caption

Behind-the-scenes work to reduce injuries and infections in hospitals has paid off. Further improvements may be more challenging. iStockphoto hide caption

That stethoscope may have more germs than you'd expect. A simple wipe with alcohol can solve the problem, but when's the last time you saw that? iStockphoto hide caption