A recent survey of infection preventionists (IPs) by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) confirmed that while demands on the profession are escalating, 41 percent of respondents to the “2009 APIC Economic Survey” reported reductions in budgets for infection prevention in the last 18 months due primarily to the economic downturn. With resources failing to keep pace with these demands, many IPs are strapped for the funding and staff necessary to ensure that their efforts to monitor and report healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) are optimized.
Perhaps that’s one reason why in June, APIC announced its support for the use of automated surveillance technologies in the healthcare setting as an essential part of infection prevention and control activities, and published its position paper, “The Importance of Surveillance Technologies in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections.”
Wright (2008) acknowledges that “Although most infection control programs have little trouble accessing data, many find themselves overwhelmed in the efforts to translate data into information and, finally, knowledge. However, if infection control programs are to transcend from regulatory requirements to change makers, our dependence on data must diminish.” Wright (2008) says that medical informatics, known as “the study and application of methods to improve management of patient data ... relevant to patient care and community health,” is a powerful aid for infection prevention, but warns, “In the absence of astute and committed owners (i.e., IPs), this tool remains dulled, broken or unused.”
For the uninitiated, today’s surveillance technologies are computerized systems designed to collect infection data quickly to help pinpoint and investigate potential clusters of HAIs in real time. They streamline a process that can be labor intensive and limited in scope when performed manually. However, many IPs resort to “shoe-leather epidemiology” because their hospitals lack the technology; in fact, APIC’s economic survey showed that among respondents, just 1 in 5 had electronic data-mining technology at their fingertips.
