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Public Reporting of Healthcare Associated Infections – Part 1 of 2
— Dr. Daniel Pollock Head of CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network A colleague began a recent presentation by asking the audience, “How many of you have had a colonoscopy?” The majority of participants raised their hands. Then he asked, “How many of you assumed that the instruments used during your procedure were truly clean?” All Read More >
Posted on by 8 CommentsHICPAC’s Impact – Reflections on Key Decisions and Future Direction
— PJ Brennan, M.D. Chief Medical Officer Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pennsylvania Health System Chair of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) At my first meeting of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) in October of 2003, the Committee heard reports on guidelines in development for Sterilization and Disinfection Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsHICPAC – Taking the Lead on Safe Healthcare Practices
— Jeffrey C. Hageman, M.H.S. CDC Epidemiologist and Executive Secretary of HICPAC CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Each morning when I review news headlines about the latest medical research identifying a new cure or danger, questions pop into my head. Was the research study designed correctly? Was the information collected accurately? Does this new Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsInspecting Outpatient Surgery Centers – Lapses in Infection Prevention
— Dr. Melissa Schaefer, Medical Officer CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion When patients seek care in any setting, they should feel confident that their healthcare providers are following basic infection control practices. Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), or outpatient surgery centers, are one setting where there has been significant growth in recent years both in Read More >
Posted on by 29 CommentsDr. Fishman’s Top 5: Appropriate Antibiotic Use
— Neil Fishman, M.D. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing problems and greatest challenges that we will confront during the coming decade. As bacteria and other micro-organisms are becoming more resistant to antimicrobials, our current therapeutic options are dwindling and research and development of new antibiotics is lagging. For the first time since Read More >
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