| Infection Control Specialists |
Elanor Wallis, R.N.
(405) 302-3212
Toby Butler, R.N. CCRN, M.S.N.
Email
(405) 308-5260
Cynthia Zips, SM (ASCP), CIC
(405) 209-1589
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| Virus Survival on Surfaces: Temperature and Humidity Effect | |
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| Hospital Quality Reporting | |
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| Stay Connected! Join a Listserve. |
An e-mail listserve is a great way to exchange information with others about your health care quality improvement efforts.
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| Oklahoma Hospitals Working to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections | | |
Five Oklahoma hospitals are involved in a special project with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ) to reduce Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) and Clostridium Difficile (CDI).
OFMQ infection control specialists and quality improvement staff provide consultation that includes clinical process and environmental assessment, intervention strategies, clinical education and technical assistance with data collection and reporting through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) in these facilities. To read more, click here. |
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The Joys and Pitfalls of Electronic Surveillance | |
Electronic surveillance is the use of electronic health information to support the infection preventionist (IP) in the identification, investigation, and intervention process for hospital acquired infections and/or infectious outbreak. According to Scott Pope, National Director of Safety Surveillor, less than one-third of all hospitals use an electronic surveillance system (ESS) for HAI detection.2 Before adopting an ESS, a hospital must be armed with information about the pros and cons.
There is no debate that manual surveillance - for example, going through microbiology reports by hand to identify infections acquired after admission - is labor intensive and can also be fraught with potential for error. Plus, the tedious process of manual data collection and reporting is but one task to be done along with risk assessments, investigations, manual chart reviews, action plans and clinical intervention support. All in a day's work for an infection preventionist. Click here to read more. |
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The Business Case for Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections | | |
Healthcare providers agree we have an obligation to do no harm. Reducing the likelihood a patient might get an infection as a result of health care certainly fits with this imperative. But, what about the bottom line? Infection prevention - gowns, gloves, soap and infection control teams - cost money, time and human resources. Is there a business case for reducing HAI? Healthcare leaders explored this issue at a recent American Health Care Executives (AHCE) meeting, presented in collaboration with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ).
Presenters shared perspective and experience in reducing HAI with over 50 Oklahoma healthcare executives in attendance. Speakers included Denise Cardo, MD, Director, Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ken Segal, Principle, Value Capture, Inc., as well as representatives from the State Health Department, local hospital systems and OFMQ. To read more, click here. |
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CDC: 18% Drop in Central Line Infections | |
In the first report of its kind, CDC officials said yesterday that central line-associated bloodstream infections dropped by 18% overall in 17 states that have mandatory reporting laws in the first six months of 2009 compared with the previous three years.
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| This material was prepared by Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Oklahoma, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. HAI-1047-OK-0610 | | |
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