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In the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network in 2019, which reviewed data across the United States from 2015 to 2017, S aureus was the most common organism implicated in surgical site infections (5515), serving as the causative agent in 17.5% of all reported SSIs.3 This number was even more staggering in orthopedic and cardiac surgeries, with S aureus causing 38.6% of all reported orthopedic infections and 27% of all cardiac surgery infections.3 Although 5 aureus continues to cause a significant number of SSIs both in the United States and internationally, the best targeted infection prevention interventions have been debated in the literature. In the 2014 updates to the SHEA/IDSA guidelines, screening for 5 aureus in orthopedic and cardiothoracic surgery patients and decolonizing those patients who screened positive was listed as moderate-quality evidence.4 In the 2022 update to the SHEA/IDSA guidelines, the level of evidence for decolonizing patients undergoing orthopedic and cardiothoracic procedures was upgraded to high-quality evidence, and was even added to the list of essential practices in their guidelines for SSI prevention.5 As the evidence continues to support S aureus as the most common cause of SSIs and the quality of evidence for decolonization continues to increase, hospitals across the country must ensure they have a program in place that supports best practices and reduces the risk of S aureus SSIs in all orthopedic and cardiothoracic surgery patients. To help support hospitals in implementing these best practices, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released its MRSA Prevention Toolkit: Targeting SSI (https:/www.ahrq.gov/hai/tools/mrsa-prevention/surge ry/index.html) in April 2025.6 TOOLKIT OVERVIEW Similar to the recommendations in the SHEA/IDSA guidelines, the AHRQ MRSA Prevention Toolkit focuses on interventions in cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedic joint replacements, and spine surgery.6 The AHRQ toolkit breaks down MRSA SSI prevention into four key strategies. Preeti Mehrotra, MD, MPH, senior medical director, Infection Control/Hospital Epidemiology Division of Infectious Diseases, Silverman Institute for Health Care Quality and Safety, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.