COMPLIANCE STANDARDS FOR INFECTION CONTROL
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
The Joint Commission, founded in 1951 is an independent, not-for-profit organization, that evaluates, accredits and certifies more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. The Joint Commission accreditation and certification is that nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare. It has been recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.
Many of the standards to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital associated infections relate directly to the porjects and applications for above-ceiling and isolated areas undergoing routine maintenance, system upgrades and renovation. Specifically, the standards impacted are:
- IC.3.10 Based on risks, the hospital establishes priorities and sets goals for preventing the development of health care-associated infections within the hospital.
- IC.4.10 Once the hospital has prioritized its goals, strategies must be implemented to achieve those goals.
- IC.6.10 - As part of emergency management activities, the hospital prepares to respond to an influx, or the risk of an influx, of infectious patients.
- IC.9.10 - Hospital leaders allocate adequate resources for the infection control program.
You can learn the specific elements of performance for each of these ares by and more about the Joint Commission on the official website:
www.jointcommission.org
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epedimiology (APIC)
Made up primarily of nurses, physicians, public health professionals, microbiologist and other healthcare professionals, APIC is the leading professional association for infection preventionist with over 15,000 members. Their mission is to create a safer world through the prevention of infection achieved by the provision of better care to promote health care at a lower cost.
American Society of Hospital Engineers (ASHE)
The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) is a not for profit organization focusing on educational efforts to optimize healthcare physical environments. ASHE has focuses on facility managment, safety & security for healthcare facilities.
If you would like more information on ASHE please visit the official website
www.ashe.org.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control And Prevention Mission is to collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health – through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats. Specifically, some of the precautions addressed are:
III.B.3. Airborne Precautions Airborne Precautions prevent transmission of infectious agents that remain infectious over long distances when suspended in the air.
- V.D. Airborne Precautions
V.D.1.: HICPAC/CDC Isolation Guideline for patients known or suspected to be infected with infectious agents transmitted person-to-person by the airborne route (e.g., M tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox, disseminated herpes zoster.
- V.D.2.a., 2.a.i., 2.a.ii., 2.a.iii., 2.a.iv.: Concerning patient placement, room air changes per hour, exhaust procedures, monitoring and entry/exit.
- V.D.5a., 5.b., 5.c., 5.d.: Concerning patient transport precautions.
- VI.F1.,F.2.: Concerning the use of standard and transmission-based precautions in a protective environment.
VI.C.1. Environmental Controls
VI.C.1.a., 1.b., 1.c., 1.c.i., 1.d., 1.e: Concerning filtration of air, HEPA quality, directed air-flow, exhaust, monitoring, air-changes and the sealing of rooms.
III.F. Protective Environment: