The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) approved revised standards to help prevent the occurrence of deadly health care associated infections.
The standards retain many of the concepts embodied in existing standards, but sharpen and raise expectations of organization leadership and of the infection control program itself. The requirements for ambulatory care behavioral health care, home care, hospital, laboratory and long-term care organizations will take effect January 2005.
Health care associated infections constitute a significant safety risk for individuals receiving care in a variety of settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that two million individuals acquire an infection each year while being treated in hospitals for other illnesses or injuries, and that 90,000 people die as a result. The Joint Commission accredits more than 16,000 health care organizations and health care-associated infections are a risk in all of the care settings encompassed in this group.
The revised standards are the result of the work of an expert group of infection-control practitioners, hospital epidemiologists, physicians, nurses, risk managers and other health care professionals, along with significant input from accredited organizations participating in a field review. Since the work of these groups began, two new issues -- emerging antimicrobial resistance and the management of epidemics and emerging pathogens – have been identified. Requirements addressing those topics will be sent to all accredited organizations next month for field review.
The revised standards are designed to raise awareness that health care
associated infections are a national concern that can be acquired within any
care, treatment or service setting, and transferred between settings,
or brought in from the community. Therefore, prevention represents one of the
major safety initiatives that a health care organization can undertake. The
revised standards focus on the development and implementation of plans to
prevent and control infections, with organizations expected to:
incorporate an infection control program as a major component of safety and performance improvement programs
perform an ongoing assessment to identify its risks for the acquisition and transmission of infectious agents
effectively use an epidemiological approach which includes conducting surveillance, collecting data and interpreting the data
effectively implement infection prevention and control processes
educate and collaborate with leaders across the organization to effectively participate in the design implementation of the infection control program