cover story
HHM How is the business case for infection prevention
evolving in today’s complicated healthcare landscape?
Making the Business
Case for Infection
Prevention and Control
By Kelly M. Pyrek
I
nfection preventionists and stakeholders in patient
safety, quality, value analysis and risk management
must join forces to develop a compelling business case to
institution leadership to secure the ongoing viability of their
IP&C programs. Because infection control programs are
often seen as cost centers and not as revenue generators,
demonstrating value to administrators is increasingly
important as healthcare executives are faced with the need
to support many competing initiatives with limited resources.
(Perencevich, et al. 2007)
Healthcare Hygiene magazine asked experts to share
their perspectives around how to develop a business case to
initiate a new intervention or implement new technologies,
justify continuing a program during budget negotiations,
or fend off budget cuts.
Our experts are:
Barbara Strain, MA, CVAHP, SM(ASCP), is founding
member and past president of Association of
Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP),
as well as principal of Barbara Strain Consulting
LLC. She is formerly director of value management at the
University of Virginia Health System.
Gloria Graham, DNP, RN, CVAHP, past-president
of the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis
Professionals (AHVAP) and chair of AHVAP’s Industry
Business Education Collaborative (IBEC) Committee.
She is also the clinical value analyst at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center.
Hilary Babcock, MD, MPH, professor of medicine
in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is
also medical director of the Departments of BJC
Infection Prevention & Epidemiology Consortium, and
medical director of occupational health, at Barnes-Jewish
and St. Louis Children’s Hospitals.
www.healthcarehygienemagazine.com • february 2020
Barbara Strain (BS): Infection prevention has been
one of the key elements leading to effective healthcare
outcomes through their role in protecting patients, visitors and
healthcare workers from provider exposures – bacterial, viral,
fungal and chemical through various routes -- respiratory,
open wounds, insertion and manipulation of devices during
care or while undergoing operative or invasive procedures. As
the healthcare landscape has transitioned, so has infection
prevention – the improvement of monitoring technology, AI,
alert mechanisms, reporting and quick reactions to urgent
follow through to avoid harm.
Gloria Graham (GG): Infection preventionists (IPs) are
an integral part of the healthcare landscape contributing to
the prevention of spreading infections, meaning they have
to know everything about all of the potential pathogens.
Their expertise provides the foundation for patient safety as
well as for healthcare professionals and visitors to healthcare
organizations. Infection control practices are woven
throughout processes within healthcare to ensure the patient
is receiving the right care to prevent healthcare-associated
infections. The IP role has evolved to meet the needs of a
complex healthcare system by utilizing many different sources
to aid them in their practice such as monitoring or UV devices.
Hilary Babcock (HB): As with all preventive processes,
there remains the challenge of estimating costs averted, and
we all know it can be difficult to measure something that
didn’t happen. There have been some efforts to try to define
how best to quantify costs averted related to infections, and
the CDC has moved to this model. So, instead of merely
saying ‘we still have this number of infections in the country
every year,’ they say, ‘without these efforts the infections
would be at this number,’ and ‘we have averted this many
infections.’ I do think some aspects of that shift are helpful.
Depending on whom you are talking to you when making
the business case for infection prevention and control, you
must be prepared to defend the methodology that you use
to make those estimates.
HHM Why is it so critical for IPs to be able to make
the business case for their programs and what’s some
best advice for communication and collaboration with
members of the hospital C-suite?
BS: As has been frequently reported, hospitals have
closed units, mandated health screenings and testing of
patients, visitors and staff for certain organisms, curtailed
visitors from entering patient rooms with flu, respiratory,
rashes, fevers or other symptoms, required co-horting
of patients with similarly confirmed conditions, etc. This
resonates with institutional executive leaders, as it affects
the public’s trust, good care outcomes and, ultimately, the
bottom line. U.S. healthcare should move beyond requiring
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