Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

Infection Control & Clinical Quality January 2015 • Vol. 2015 No. 1 INDEX Table of Contents p. 4 Patient Safety p. 5 Executive Briefing: UV Light Disinfection p. 10 Hand Hygiene & Preventing HAIs p. 17 The 5 Most- Reduced Patient Harm Events Instances of 10 HACs dropped 17 percent from 2010 to 2013, but which patient harm events saw the greatest reduction? p. 6 721 Hospitals Penalized by Medicare for High HAC Rates 15 things to know about the HAC Reduction Program and the hospitals receiving penalties, p. 8 Hand Dryers vs. Paper Towels New study ends debate, p. 18 The 5 States Most Prepared for Infectious Disease Outbreaks See which states are in the best shape, p. 20 Employee Rights vs. Patient Safety: Balancing Mandatory Flu Shots By Akanksha Jayanthi It's January — the middle of flu season. Have you gotten your flu shot? Increasingly, healthcare organizations are requiring their employees to do so. Last flu season (2013-14), 75.2 percent of healthcare person- nel, both clinical and non-clinical, reported receiving a flu shot, up from 63.5 percent the season prior, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Taking Hand Hygiene High-Tech By Heather Punke For healthcare providers, following hand hygiene protocol is one of the simplest actions they can take to reduce the instance of healthcare-associated infec- tions. Indeed, the World Health Organization calls hand hygiene a "simple, low-cost action to prevent the spread of many of the microbes that cause health- care-associated infections." "Hand hygiene is definitely the most important thing we can do to prevent infection," said Clare Nash, RN, pro- gram manager at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Hospitals are charged with the dual task of keeping patients well while also keeping patients safe. The two are inextricably linked, as patient safety concerns often tie directly into patient health concerns — hand hy- giene, transitions of care and medi- cation errors are a few such concerns that come to mind. Retrospectively, 2014 provided some lessons in patient safety issues. The Ebola outbreak shed light on the country's unpreparedness for han- dling infection outbreaks after two nurses contracted the virus while caring for an infected patient, and meaningful use guidelines are ramp- ing up requirements for patient in- volvement in their care. Looking prospectively, these con- cerns, and many others, will flow into the next calendar year. Some of the patient safety issues are long established, and will remain in the forefront of healthcare's mind for years to come. Here, in no particular order, are 10 important patient safety issues for providers to consider in the upcoming year. Healthcare-associated infec- tions. HAIs have long plagued healthcare facilities, both clinically and financially. Protocol including continued on page 17 continued on page 5 continued on page 14 10 Top Patient Safety Issues for 2015 By Akanksha Jayanthi SAVE THE DATE! Becker's Hospital Review Annual Meeting May 7-9, 2015 Swissôtel - Chicago, Illinois 153 Great Health System Executives Speaking 119 Sessions - 212 Speakers To learn more visit www.BeckersHospitalReview.com To register, visit www.regonline.com/hospitalreview6thannualmeeting

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