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Navigating HAI-Related Litigation : Advice for Infection Preventionists
By Kelly M . Pyrek
In her presentation at the national APIC meeting this past June , Catherine Kroll , MPH ,
CIC , system director for infection prevention at PeaceHealth , assured infection preventionists that they could navigate the legal system successfully – with a little help from colleagues in risk management and their own legal counsel .
During her talk , “ Raise Your Right Hand : Role of Infection Prevention in Healthcare Litigation ,” Kroll asked APIC attendees by a show of hands to indicate if they had ever helped with a request for production , prepared interrogatories , been deposed , or served as a witness during the litigation process , Kroll says she found the results to be quite illuminating .
“ I started with the basics , such as ‘ Have you worked with requests for production ?’ and things like that ,” Kroll says . “ There were quite a few people who ’ d been involved in in something similar , but when it got down to who had actually been deposed and served as a witness at trial , it was just a handful . There were IPs in the room who ’ d done this before and others were there to get tips and tricks , while others were interested on some level , wanting to network with those who had experienced litigation , because there
12 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • september 2024