● Provide physician training relative to infection prevention and control and outbreak investigation / mitigation
● Provide HAI case validation as needed by infection preventionists
● Partner with the infection prevention program director to provide regular status reports to the local executive team ( e . g ., executive committee )
● In partnership with the infection prevention director , execute authority as needed in the interest of patient safety ( e . g ., close the operating room or other units in the event of outbreak of infection or exposure , etc .)
A federal mandate for a dedicated ID physician for every local and corporate level infection prevention program would help to ensure that patient safety is supported with this critical role . This would in turn support the goal of zero preventable HAIs , with the associated reduction of patient suffering and healthcare costs . To best support reliable design , the mandate would ideally also require standard training and certification , development of a standard role description , and dedicated resourcing . It would seem reasonable to think that APIC , SHEA and IDSA could collaborate to support this .
References :
2 . Zimlichman E , Henderson D , Tamir O , Franz C , Song P , Yamin CK , Keohane C , Denham CR , Bates DW . Health care-associated infections : a meta-analysis of costs and financial impact on the US health care system . JAMA Intern Med . 2013 Dec 9-23 ; 173 ( 22 ): 2039-46 . doi : 10.1001 / jamainternmed . 2013.9763 .
3 . McQuillen DP , Petrak RM , Wasserman RB , Nahass RG , Scull JA , Martinelli LP . The value of infectious diseases specialists : non-patient care activities . Clin Infect Dis . 2008 Oct 15 ; 47 ( 8 ): 1051-63 . doi : 10.1086 / 592067 .
4 . Barnes S , Spencer M . Reliable design of IP programs , Infection Control Today . Sept 2015 . pp 41-43 .
5 . Zahn M , Adalja AA , Auwaerter PG , et al . Infectious Diseases Physicians : Improving and Protecting the Public ’ s Health : Why Equitable Compensation Is Critical . Clin Infect Dis . 2019 ; 69 ( 2 ): 352-356 . doi : 10.1093 / cid / ciy888
6 . Wright S . et al . Expanding Roles of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control in Spite of Limited Resources and Compensation . Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology . February 2010 , vol . 31 , no . 2 .
7 . Dickstein Y , Nir-Paz R , Pulcini C , Cookson B , Beović B , Tacconelli E , Nathwani D , Vatcheva-Dobrevska R , Rodríguez-Baño J , Hell M , Saenz H , Leibovici L , Paul M . Staffing for infectious diseases , clinical microbiology and infection control in hospitals in 2015 : results of an ESCMID member survey . Clin Microbiol Infect . 2016 Sep ; 22 ( 9 ): 812 . e9-812 . e17 . doi : 10.1016 / j . cmi . 2016.06.014 . Epub 2016 Jun 29 .
8 . Stone PW , Dick A , Pogorzelska M , Horan TC , Furuya EY , Larson E . Staffing and structure of infection prevention and control programs . Am J Infect Control . 2009 Jun ; 37 ( 5 ): 351-357 . doi : 10.1016 / j . ajic . 2008.11.001 .
9 . Kaye K et al . Guidance for Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology Programs : Healthcare Epidemiologist Skills and Competencies . Infect Control Hospital Epidemiol . Volume 36 , Issue 04 . April 2015 , pp 369 – 380 .
Healthcare Hygiene magazine invites infection prevention stakeholders from all aspects of prevention and control ( including IP / healthcare epidemiology , healthcare value analysis , quality / safety / risk management , surgical services , sterile processing , environmental services , biomedical engineering and scientific research ) to submit sciencedriven , best practice-based articles for consideration for publication . Please , no public relations pitches or articles with commercial overtones . Send your queries to Kelly Pyrek at : kelly @ healthcarehygienemagazine . com
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