The Joint Commission announced yesterday that it has merged its Infection Control Page and HAI Portal into one tool called the Infection Prevention and Healthcare Acquired Infection (HAI) Portal. The new tool pools together information from The Joint Commission, Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, and Joint Commission Resources.
Users will be able to access information on emerging infection issues, national guidelines, surgical site infection, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central line associated bloodstream infections.
It also provides access to the 2014 "Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals," The Joint Commission's Ebola Preparedness Resource Web page, resources on influenza and enteroviruses, and disinfection and sterilization information.
Yesterday the portal featured a podcast on The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations for annual influenza vaccinations for all health care personnel to reduce influenza-related morbidity.
"Our new Infection Prevention and HAI Portal accomplishes this by offering one simple place to find the most up-to-date information on these very important infection issues," Dr. Ana Pujols McKee, executive vice president and chief medical officer of The Joint Commission, said in a statement.
Now that CMS is cracking down on infection issues with its hospital-acquired condition reduction program, which started on October 1, it's more important than ever that hospitals are equipped with the right information.
In mid-December, CMS announced that more than 700 hospitals will receive a 1 percent reduction in payments by fiscal 2015, which will be an overall reduction of about $330 million.
The upcoming February issue of HealthCare Business News features several stories on infection control. One touches on the role of sterilizers in hospitals' response to such challenges as an Ebola outbreak. Another focuses on ways manufacturers are tackling hospital-acquired infections from hospital beds.
