Becker's Hospital Review

108 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 10 infection control upgrades needed before next pandemic By Mackenzie Bean T he U.S. needs to bolster its infec- tion prevention and control in- frastructure to prepare for future pandemics and the rise of healthcare-as- sociated infections, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology said in a March 8 report. Hospital infection prevention programs — already "underfunded and under- staffed" before the pandemic hit — now have insufficient capacity to prevent HAIs, the organization said. In the 66-page report, APIC shared 10 recommendations for policymakers to ex- pand the infection prevention and control workforce, improve prevention programs and build resiliency for future pandemics. 1. Develop universal personal protec- tive equipment. APIC said Congress should fund efforts to develop an off-the- shelf, one-size-fits all respiratory device that could be used in healthcare settings during infectious disease emergencies. 2. Normalize the use of masks amid in- fectious disease threats. Local, state and federal lawmakers should recommend the use of masks to the public. Federal agencies should also conduct more re- search into masks' effectiveness against different types of infectious diseases and share their findings with the public to build trust, the organization said. 3. Address supply chain failures. e fed- eral government should develop better pro- cesses to manage, track and quickly supply PPE during times of crisis and work to bet- ter anticipate periods of high demand. 4. Require healthcare facilities to in- clude infection prevention and control experts on emergency response teams. CMS should mandate that infection pre- ventionists serve on healthcare facility incident command and emergency pre- paredness teams and be consulted for all policies that affect disease transmission, including patient placement, PPE use and ventilation issues. 5. Require nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other high-risk set- tings to staff at least one full-time in- fection preventionist. CMS should re- quire each facility to have such an expert on staff and that other nursing home staff undergo infection prevention and control training to reinforce this work. CMS should also require that routine mandatory HAI surveillance be expand- ed in nursing homes. 6. Build and implement infection pre- vention and control surge capacity. Congress should provide healthcare facil- ities with funding to increase this capacity to ensure continued safe care throughout the pandemic and ensure that facilities have enough front-line infection preven- tionists available for future infectious dis- ease emergencies, APIC said. 7. Boost capacity for testing and con- tact tracing. Congress should ensure all relevant stakeholders have adequate access to testing, and fund public health agencies' and healthcare facilities' con- tact tracing efforts to control disease spread during a pandemic. 8. Ensure rapid infection surveillance data sharing and interoperability. Con- gress should invest in technology solu- tions that allow for rapid data collection and facilitate sharing between healthcare facilities, public health agencies, federal agencies and the public. 9. Build vaccine confidence. e federal government should devote resources to ongoing public health education about the benefits of vaccines for infectious diseases. 10. Fund pandemic preparedness work- force capacity and training. Congress should provide funds for healthcare fa- cilities to increase their infection pre- vention and control workforce, and fund widespread training for all staff members during a pandemic. It should also fund incentives for universities to launch or expand infection preventionist training programs to increase the pipeline of ex- perts entering the workforce. n 10 top patient safety concerns for 2022 By Erica Carbajal S taffing shortages are the top threat to patient safety in 2022, accord- ing to a March 14 report on patient safety concerns from ECRI, an organiza- tion that conducts independent medi- cal device evaluations. Researchers identified the top threats to patient safety by analyzing a wide range of data, including scientific literature, patient safety events and concerns re- ported to or investigated by ECRI. Ten top patient safety concerns this year: 1. Staffing shortages 2. COVID-19 effects on healthcare workers' mental health 3. Bias and racism in addressing patient safety 4. Vaccine coverage gaps and errors 5. Cognitive biases and diagnostic error 6. Nonventilator healthcare-associated pneumonia 7. Human factors in operationalizing telehealth 8. International supply chain disruptions 9. Products subject to emergency use authorization 10. Telemetry monitoring The list is typically dominated by clinical issues, with several of the top threats un- derscoring how the pandemic worsened issues already simmering in healthcare. "Shortages in the healthcare workforce and mental health challenges were broadly known and well-documented for years," said Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, president and CEO of ECRI. "Both physicians and nurses were at risk of burnout, emotional exhaustion and de- pression prior to 2022, but the pandemic made both issues significantly worse." n

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