News

The purpose of this study was to determine the real-world effectiveness of healthcare facilities flexible endoscope cleaning procedures by utilizing the ChannelCheck residual soil test, a product of Healthmark Industries Co, Inc. The ChannelCheck test detects the presence of organic contaminants and can serve as a quality control tool to identify potential deficiencies in endoscope reprocessing effectiveness, typically failure results from not following reprocessing standards and guidelines or the use of damaged or defective equipment.

Antibodies are watchdogs of human health, continuously prowling the body and registering minute changes associated with infection or disease with astonishing acuity. They also serve as biochemical memory banks, faithfully recording information about pathogens they encounter and efficiently storing this data for later use.

Like other healthcare professionals, emergency medical service (EMS) personnel face the growing number of multidrug-resistant organisms. In addition to protecting themselves from possible infection, EMS providers must ensure that their vehicles and equipment are adequately cleaned and disinfected so as not to expose future patients.

Consistent implementation of proven measures to reduce and eliminate healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), and building these measures into work flows are among some of the biggest challenges to healthcare institutions today, says a group of experts who convened for a special panel hosted by Infection Control Today magazine to pinpoint the opportunities and challenges related to infection prevention and control. Our panel of experts included Rabih Darouiche, MD, director of the Center of Prostheses Infection at Baylor College of Medicine; Charles Edmiston, PhD, SM (ASCP), CIC, professor of surgery and hospital epidemiologist at Froedtert Hospital - Medical College of Wisconsin, and adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Glenn Mitchell, MD, chief medical officer at the Sisters of Mercy Health System; Denise Murphy, RN, MPH, CIC, vice president for quality and patient Safety at Main Line Health System; and Ruth Shumaker, RN, BSN, CNOR, a healthcare management and perioperative consultant.