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Tip of the Week: Eight tips for developing your IC plan

Accreditation Connection, July 11, 2005

With so much to cover in an infection control (IC) plan, figuring out where to get started and what to include can be a confusing task.

Renee Patterson, CSP, infection control manager for Ingham Regional Medical Center in Lansing, MI, recommends the following when developing an IC plan:

 Make the plan's purpose the directive of the board of trustees or another executive management board. While encompassing the entire facility, it should focus on how to minimize the risks of acquiring and transmitting nosocomial infections.
 The plan's philosophy is an overview of the IC program's support mechanism. Identify patients, visitors, staff, and physicians as having roles in controlling and preventing the spread of infection. Include a broad statement about surveillance activities and the reason for such measures.
 The plan's scope and authority should identify the responsibilities of both the IC committee and the IC department. In this section, identify the specific goals of the IC program. This section should include the authority of the IC department to institute appropriate surveillance, control, and prevention activities when there is an infectious disease threat to anyone entering the facility.
 The plan's objectives should describe the overall purpose of the department (in support of the purpose and philosophy of the IC plan).
 The plan's responsibilities should either be broken into these four separate sections or kept as one large section. These responsibilities should be in line with the purpose, scope, and authority of the IC plan. Identify the groups to which the IC committee submits reports and the frequency of these reports.
 In the data collection section, define the methods of data collection, identify which departments will receive the information, and determine locations for both short- and long-term storage of that information.
 The strategic initiatives section should include specific activities for the IC department that support the facility's mission, vision, and values statements. Base initiatives on continuing services, such as reporting trends for certain infection rate studies, and adding or improving on quality indicator programs.
 The summary is a brief rundown of the IC plan's purpose.

Editor's note: Accreditation Connection adapted this article from the book Infection Control Professional's Handbook, written by Renee Patterson and published by HCPro, Inc.

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