With the constantly evolving long-term care environment, there are daily changes in accreditation, clinical, and reimbursement standards that greatly impact the climate. Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) continue to be riddled with Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), and 2012 will prove to be an increasingly challenging year, specifically as it relates to the prevention of HAIs and the demand for public transparency.
The top five priorities for infection prevention in long-term care facilities in 2012 are:
1) Decreasing overall incidence of HAIs: Most HAIs are preventable, and many of the HAIs plaguing LTCFs result from poor patient care practices, improper utilization of medical devices, such as foley catheters, and overuse of antibiotics. The widespread use of evidence-based infection control methods will allow HAIS to rapidly decrease. Simple interventions, such as hand hygiene for the healthcare provider, resident, and their families will break the chain of infection transmission. In addition, LTCFs have numerous high-touch environmental surfaces that require frequent disinfection with an EPA-registered disinfectant.
2) Decreasing hospital transfers due to HAIs: Many LTCFs are no longer receiving reimbursement for these types of additional costs. In addition, with the invention of Accountable Care Organizations, public transparency is even more critical.
3) Increasing Staff Compliance: Use established infection prevention policies and procedures based on evidence-based guidelines and practices.
4) Complying with evolving regulatory and accreditation requirements such as those from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
5) Removing unnecessary invasive catheters, particularly urinary catheters that are known to contribute to HAIs.
Given the upcoming changes with healthcare reform and decreasing reimbursement, long-term care facilities should respond proactively by engaging in a comprehensive approach to infection prevention, with a focus on the resident and the healthcare provider. This approach should include a strategic focus on the environment of care, as well as hand hygiene for everyone, including visitors and staff. Mitigating the risk for cross contamination from contaminated hands and environmental surfaces are two critical infection prevention mechanisms that can alleviate the risk of HAIs.
J. Hudson Garrett Jr., Ph.D, is the director of clinical affairs at PDI Healthcare.