An intervention model called the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) is dramatically reducing central line infections and can be used to prevent other threats to patient safety, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports. In data released at…
This influenza immunization season may be one of the most challenging for the nation’s hospitals as they face a new requirement to track every employee, licensed practitioner, student and volunteer. Beginning in January 2013, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid…
Nurse burnout and staffing woes lead to higher healthcare-associated infection rates (HAIs) and costs hospitals millions of additional dollars annually, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the…
Hospitals that fail to keep their exposure control plans current could be slapped with a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which requires an annual review and update of the policies. Last year, hospitals were most likely…
As the lines blur between patient safety and worker safety, hospital employee health professionals can expect much more scrutiny, even from regulators who are typically centered on patient care. A new, draft survey tool from the Center for Medicare and…
Money talks. The 2008 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cut reimbursement for certain health care-associated infections (HAIs) has led to enhanced focus on infection prevention and changes in practice by front-line staff, according to…
Measles cases in the U.S. rose to the highest level in 15 years in 2011, posing a particular risk to both hospital patients and health care workers. Last year, there were 222 reported cases and 17 outbreaks. That included four…
Infectious disease societies frustrated at watching antimicrobial resistance increase for decades are taking the unusual step of asking for federal regulation and oversight of clinical practice, imploring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to require hospitals to implement…
For those infection preventionists who also work in employee health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is forming a new electronic, voluntary, and secure surveillance system to track occupational injuries to health care workers. The Occupational Health…
Clostridium difficile is moving beyond its traditional stronghold in the hospital to cause infections in long term care and ambulatory settings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. While many health care-associated infections, such as bloodstream infections, declined in…