Policies and Practice

IPPS Final Rule for FY 2013 Adds SSI After CIED Implantation as an HAC Payment Provision

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 1, 2012 issued a final rule that updates fiscal year (FY) 2013 Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays at general acute-care and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), and builds on the Obama ...More
August 3, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Researchers Analyze the Concordance Between U.S. and European Definitions of HAIs

Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is a valuable measure to decrease infection rates. Across Europe, inter-country comparisons of HAI rates seem limited because some countries use U.S. definitions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ...More
August 2, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Expert Discusses Nurse Burnout and HAIs on CDC Safe Healthcare Blog

A new study of Pennsylvania hospitals published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), finds that increasing a nurse’s workload by one patient was associated with increases in catheter-associated urinary tract infections and surgical site infections. Join in ...More
August 1, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Developing Countries Challenged by Low Priority Given to Infection Control

It is not fully understood why policy makers of developing countries often give low priority to infection control and why they are resistant to implementing international guidelines. Ider, et al. (2012) aimed to identify the main perceived challenges and barriers that ...More
July 31, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
New CDC Research Examines Link Between Paid Sick Leave and Healthier Workers

Workers with access to paid sick leave are 28 percent less likely overall to suffer nonfatal work-related injuries than workers without access to paid sick leave, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found that workers in ...More
July 30, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Nurse Staffing, Burnout Linked to Hospital Infections

Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates and costs hospitals millions of additional dollars annually, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes ...More
July 30, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
LTC Chapter of HAI Action Plan Available for Public Comment

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the availability for public comment of Phase 3 in the 5-year National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination (HAI Action Plan). The new Long-Term Care (LTC) chapter focuses ...More
July 25, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Joint Commission R3 Report Explains New Flu Vaccine Requirements

The Joint Commission has released an R3 Report, a complimentary publication that provides detailed information, about a July 1, 2012, requirement that all Joint Commission accredited health care organizations establish an annual influenza vaccination program for licensed ...More
July 18, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice, PPE & Standard Precautions
Surveillance Survival: A Q&A With Kathy Aureden

Kathy Aureden, MS,MT(ASCP) SI,CIC, epidemiology coordinator at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Ill., shares her perspectives on the controversial topic of screening and how to make sense of infection data. ...More
July 13, 2012
Posted in Articles, Policies and Practice
HHS, APIC, SHEA Call for Nominations for Partnership in Prevention Award

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has partnered with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) to create the Partnership in Prevention Award. The award ...More
July 6, 2012
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene, Policies and Practice