Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Tip of the week: Play a role in shaping HAI reporting

Infection Control Monitor, October 19, 2007

In Pennsylvania, infection control professionals (ICPs) are now required by the state to report all healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) under a new mandatory reporting law.

For other facilities in states that are considering mandatory reporting, Sharon Jacobs, RN, MS, CIC, manager of infection prevention and control at St. Clair Memorial Hospital in Mt. Lebanon, PA, recommends that ICPs get involved with the process. "When it came down as a mandate, we were very concerned about what kind of information was going to be collected. It's not that we don't want information to be publicly available, that's not the point, but we felt that each hospital needs to be reporting in the same fashion," she says.

Jacobs says one concern she has with the reporting system as it stands today is that people can get information about a facility's infection rate, but that information is not put into any context. "Work with all of the agencies in your state as they begin to put together their legislation," says Jacobs. "They need ICPs to interact with them."

To read more about how ICPs in Pennsylvania are complying with that state's extensive reporting requirements, go to www.hcpro.com/content/77227.cfm. The cost is $10. Briefings on Infection Control subscribers received this story with their subscriptions.

 

Most Popular