To show that the effect of the checklist was not restricted to his hospital, Pronovost got more than a hundred ICUs in Michigan to cooperate in a large study. Importantly, each ICU was encouraged to develop its own checklist to fit their unique barriers and culture. The participating ICUs had reported a total of 695 catheter-related bloodstream infections annually before the study. Only three months after the introduction of the checklists, most ICUs cut the infection rate to zero.
