This week's coverage in Infection Control Today centered on a common thread: the systems, partnerships, and data that let infection prevention teams catch problems before patients are harmed.
|Articles|October 14, 2009
Joint Commission Clarifies IC Requirements Related to Medical Equipment, Devices and Supplies
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Effective immediately, the Joint Commission has clarified elements of performance 1 and 2 for infection prevention and control standard IC.02.02.01, which address reducing the risks associated with medical equipment, devices and supplies.
The changes to EP 1 affect the ambulatory, behavioral healthcare, critical access hospital, home care, hospital, laboratory, long-term care, and office-based surgery programs, and the changes to EP 2 affects the ambulatory, critical access hospital, hospital, laboratory, long-term care, and office-based surgery programs.
Over the past year, significant issues have emerged related to cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing medical equipment, devices and supplies (for example, the proper use of steam sterilization and adequate high-level disinfection of endoscopes), which has added to confusion in the field. EP 1 has been clarified to address lower risk processes, such as cleaning and low-level disinfection. EP 2 has been clarified to address higher risk processes, specifically intermediate and high level disinfection along with sterilization.
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Knowing the protocol is only the beginning. In The Clean Bite, Sherrie Busby explores how explaining the why, addressing staff concerns, and creating clear procedures can help dental teams make infection control part of everyday practice.
What might infection prevention rounds miss when visible conditions dominate the conversation? Tommy Davis, PhD, CMIP, a member of ICT's executive advisory board, makes the case for structured observations of clinical workflows, shared accountability, and greater attention to environmental services staff’s insights.
A followed procedure can still leave patients at risk if it no longer matches validated requirements. Annetta L. McKnight, MHA, BSN, CRCST, CER, examines how infection prevention and sterile processing can identify process drift, assess disruptions, and strengthen shared oversight of medical device reprocessing.
What happens when one disinfectant cannot satisfy every IFU? At AHE in New Orleans, Diane Cullen discusses weighted risk assessment, documenting difficult decisions, and why infection prevention and EVS need to work together.
Doe Kley, MPH, RN, T-CHEST, LTC-CIP, CIC, discusses how environmental hygiene supports efforts to contain antimicrobial resistance, examining disinfectant efficacy, dilution failures, shared equipment, and the partnership between infection prevention and environmental services teams.
Understanding current water quality is a starting point for ST108 implementation. John Kimsey, vice president of processing optimization and customer success for STERIS, spoke about his HSPA presentation on assessing readiness, distinguishing system qualification from routine testing, and understanding where water samples should be collected.
Missing instruments and processing delays can strain OR–SPD relationships. At AORN 2026, John Kimsey, vice president of processing optimization and customer success for STERIS, discusses understanding root causes, exploring off-site reprocessing for ambulatory surgical centers, and using hands-on simulation to help surgical teams see sterile processing from a different perspective.
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