APIC Pledges $25,000 Toward Infections-Reporting Template

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Reaffirming its commitment to fight healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has pledged $25,000 toward an infections reporting template that can serve as a national standard.

APIC pledged its support to the National Quality Forum (NQF), which has committed to develop the standard over the next 12 to 15 months in an effort to formulate consensus standards for infection reporting via its formal Consensus Development Process. APICs board has supported the pledge by its 10,000-member organization, the nations largest of its kind, to the NQF project.

Earlier this year, the board of directors of APIC called for a uniform method of collecting and reporting information on HAIs. In doing so, it supported NQFs mission to improve American healthcare through the endorsement of consensus-based national standards for measurement and public reporting of healthcare performance data.

APIC advocates zero tolerance for HAIs and urges all those who share this commitment to patient safety to support the effort to develop a national standard, said Kathy Warye, APIC executive director. Clearly, the alternative of having each of the 50 states adopt different standards will be a disservice to patients and healthcare institutions alike.

Healthcare-associated infections are a major public health problem today, said Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, president and CEO of NQF. Devising uniform standards for tracking and publicly reporting healthcare-associated infections will be an important step toward preventing them.

Warye urged all parties interested in obtaining additional information about this critical patient safety initiative to contact APIC headquarters at apicinfo@apic.org .

Source: APIC