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healthcare professional. But unlike hospitals, which are required to have one or
more full-time infection-control specialists, the people designated to be in charge
at ASCs and HOPDs almost always have other jobs to do, as well. It could be a
staff nurse, a scrub tech or any other member of the surgical team. They not only
have limited experience in infection control, they also have to wear multiple hats.
It's very daunting. Administrators need to make sure their infection-control coor-
dinators are well supported — that they have the time and resources they need.
• Strict standards. The job is only going to get tougher. CMS, surveyors and
accreditation organizations are now insisting — and checking — that the people
in charge of infection prevention have had specific training. And many are refus-
ing to accept webinars as adequate. They want the learning to take place at in-
person workshops, presentations or one-on-one training.
• New challenges? I predict that in the near future, antimicrobial stewardship
program development will be included as a new measure by CMS and that
accreditation organizations will follow suit. It's already mandatory in hospitals,
and it will be soon in nursing homes, too. That means that on top of all their
other demands, ASCs and HOPDs are going to have to examine their provider
antibiotic prescribing habits and make sure they're consistent with evolving
guidelines.
• Seen it all. I hear over and over, "We've always done it this way and we've
never been told that it's wrong." Some of the things I've seen are eye-opening,
like storing IV bags and sterile solution bottles uncovered directly below scrub
sinks. Or running portable dehumidifiers in operating rooms while procedures
are going on. Those are extreme, but there are also many very common errors,
such as drawing up injectables early in the morning that are to be used for the
entire day.
OSM
