|
Sponsor Message:
Infection Control Report Cards | Meeting the Challenge of Mandatory Infection Rate Reporting.
Infection control report cards — comprised of publicly disclosed infection rates and other infection-related quality measures — are now seen as inevitable across the health care landscape. Prepare now for public disclosure of your hospital infection rates by ordering Infection Control Report Cards: Meeting the Challenge of Mandatory Infection Rate Reporting. This comprehensive guide from the publishers of Hospital Infection Control will give you the most recent information on the types of data being collected and reported, pitfalls and obstacles in the process, and the ongoing quest for a national infection rate disclosure standard.
Click here or call 1-800-688-2421 to order today!
This Issue's Headlines:
Sea Change Begins With Storm: Feds Threatening Action To Stop Infections
Hospital funding could be withheld if infections persist
Warning that hospitals with poor infection control programs could have federal funds cut, a United States congressman lambasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's longstanding effort to fight hospital infections.
"[The CDC has] been doing this for 35 years," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) said at a Congressional hearing. "During that time, hospital stays have grown dramatically shorter yet infection rates continue to go up. It would appear that CDC efforts have not been very effective beyond the hospitals in their [sentinel hospital] network, which is less than 10% [of all hospitals] … What do we have to do to motivate CDC?"
To read the entire story, click here.
Back to Top
Legal Trouble: ICPs Reeling From Legislative, Regulatory Whirlwind
Are MRSA active surveillance laws next?
The unrelenting rise of state laws requiring public disclosure of infection rates appears to be sparking legislative interest in other infection control areas. Legislation was introduced earlier this year in Illinois that would require hospitals to screen all patients for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in accordance with guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"If positive, they are required to inform the patient and offer treatment — the bill doesn't define what treatment is — and to report all cases to the health department," said Shannon Oriola, RN, CIC, COHN, chair of the mandatory reporting task force at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). "This legislation is going to be addressed in the fall."
To read the entire story, click here.
Back to Top
APIC, NQF Moving Ahead On Infection Rate Standard
National effort expected to be done in Feb. 2007
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is deepening its collaboration with the National Quality Forum (NQF) in an effort to create performance measures to that can be used by health care facilities to publicly report infection information data.
As part of its ongoing collaboration with APIC, the NQF invited a total of 26 APIC members to serve on the project's steering committee and technical advisory panels (TAPs). The project, expected to be completed in February 2007 and titled "National Voluntary Consensus Standards for the Reporting of Healthcare-Associated Infection Data," results from a national consensus conference sponsored by APIC in 2005, after which APIC and other stakeholder organizations commissioned the NQF to create standards surrounding the mandatory public reporting of infection data.
To read the entire story, click here.
Back to Top
Making Hospital-Acquired Infection Rates Transparent
Hospitals have an ethical obligation to release data
At a March hearing before a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce sub-committee, members of congress warned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that cuts in federal funding could loom for hospitals that fail to get their infection rates under control. And more and more states are legislating that hospitals disclose their infection rates — a trend that one ethicist says should be greeted with a mixture of support and caution.
Hospitals do need to be transparent, says Lauris C. Kaldjian, MD, PhD, director of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine program in biomedical ethics and medical humanities. However, that transparency needs to render information that is useful to prospective patients, not simply numbers without context.
To read the entire story, click here.
Back to Top
Opportunities in Training and Education
• End-of-Life Issues: A Provider's Guide for Patients and Caregivers – New!
The emotional toll surrounding the end of someone's life is not only devastating to the patient and the family but also the health care providers involved. End-of-Life Issues: A Provider's Guide for Patients and Caregivers will provide you with the information and tools you need to communicate effectively with patients and caregivers during this difficult end-of-life process. Click here to order or get more information, or call 1-800-688-2421 to order your risk-free copy of End-of-Life Issues: A Provider's Guide for Patients and Caregivers today!
• EMTALA Today: The Courts, Compliance, and Implementation – New!
Take a fresh look at your EMTALA compliance program with this valuable new resource that walks you through legal minefields others have already fallen victim to so that you can ensure that your facility is on safe ground. You'll receive legal review and commentary of actual EMTALA court cases; in-depth case studies; critical advice on transfers, on-call physicians and registration; guidance for nurses most impacted by EMTALA; and frequently asked questions with answers from the experts. Click here or call 1-800-688-2421 to order your risk-free copy of EMTALA Today: The Courts, Compliance, and Implementation! Refer to Promotion Code 58484 and pay just $199 (a $50 discount)!
• Jump ahead of the class!
Get a head-start on the 2007 LLSA with the newly-released EM Reports' Study Guide for the Emergency Physician Self-Assessment Exam, Volume 4. We've made recertification easy and convenient for you by providing all 20 of the ABEM designated articles with key study points, important passages highlighted, and a study guide format with study questions. Your purchase price is just $199 – and the price includes up to 20 ACEP and AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™! Click here or call 1-800-688-2421 to order your risk-free study guide today.
• Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Facilities: Stories, Statistics, Solutions
In our world, disasters are a reality. They will occur. Will you be ready if and when one hits your community? Are you prepared for your hospital to take a direct hit? Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Facilities: Stories, Statistics, Solutions is a new and essential sourcebook that addresses pre-disaster planning, as well as what to do during the disaster and how to deal with the problems it leaves in its wake. It will serve as a valuable tool in preparing your facility for a possible disaster. It includes case studies, examples, suggestions, and statistics on disaster planning for health care-related facilities. With tighter regulations looming, emergency drills and disaster plans are critical to health care administration. Click here or call 1-800-688-2421 to order today for just $199 — a $50 discount off the regular price of $249!
• Unannounced Surveys and Tracer Methodology: What You Need to Know Before and During Your Next JCAHO Survey
With the Joint Commission's move to make all accreditation surveys unannounced as of Jan. 1, 2006, hospitals have been forced to reevaluate how they prepare for surveys. This important reference will give you specific, practical information and advice about the new survey process, as well as case studies that detail how your peers have responded to unannounced surveys at their facilities. Order your copy of Unannounced Surveys and Tracer Methodology today for just $199! Click here or call 1-800-688-2421.
• Respiratory Protection: A Guide for Healthcare Employees
Should health care workers wear surgical masks to protect against respiratory diseases? Or does the additional protection provided by fit-tested N95 filtering face piece respirators make them a better choice? Respiratory Protection: A Guide for Healthcare Employees sourcebook provides you with the answers to these questions and the latest information on how best to protect the health care employees at your facility. Order this valuable sourcebook for just $99. Click here or call 1-800-688-2421.
Back to Top
|
