While a laudable idea, I'm afraid the plan is the stuff of dreams…or, in this case, computer models. Given my view from the trenches—working part-time in several community hospitals—here are the problems I see that need to be overcome.

Background

In the CDC Vital Signs report and their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC notes that antibiotic resistant bacteria cause more than 2 million illnesses and at least 23,000 deaths per year, just in the U.S. They focused on only four superbugs for their analysis—CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae), which are resistant to all or almost all antibiotics, a multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can also cause deadly nosocomial  infections (healthcare associated, or HAI), MRSA, and C. difficile.

The CDC projects that, over five years, infections by these four superbugs alone will increase by 10%, to 340,000 per year, if we don't improve our systems. Their model projects that better coordination between centers could reduce CRE infections by 70% over this time. They further suggest that better infection control and antibiotic use could prevent 619,000 infections from these four bacteria and save 37,000 lives, as well as an estimated $7.7 billion in direct medical costs.
This is how the CDC illustrates their model.