Prepare now for CMS hospital infection control inspections

ATLANTA, March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is finalizing a hospital infection control survey and is expected to begin inspections in the coming months, a move that observers see as a likely prelude to new regulations to prevent health care associated infections (HAIs). 

The CMS survey program comes as a direct result of increasing public outrage about HAIs, which are increasingly seen as preventable but still cause 100,000 patient deaths a year. The CMS is currently finalizing a "pilot" version of the survey, and is then expected to begin inspections with a tool that includes a sweeping assessment of infection control programs and resources, quality improvement, multidrug-resistant organisms, antibiotic stewardship, employee health, hand hygiene, needle use, environmental services, and cleaning and reprocessing of equipment.

AHC Media – publishers of Hospital Infection Control & Prevention and Hospital Employee Health – has created a comprehensive compliance manual for the CMS survey that includes take-home tips from experts, substantive background articles and profiles of programs that have developed best practices in the areas under CMS scrutiny.

A Skeleton Key to CMS Success: Your Essential Guide to the 2013 CMS Hospital Infection Control Survey is designed to both improve compliance with the CMS requirements and boost the overall quality and rigor of infection control efforts throughout a medical facility.

"Infection preventionists, employee health professionals, and other hospital leaders and staff can use this book to prepare for the CMS inspections and `teach the test' to their health care colleagues," says Gary Evans, executive editor of the book.

The CMS created the infection control survey in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, forging a federal partnership that has far-reaching implications.

"It is obvious CMS collaborated with content experts in the field," says Patti Grant RN, BSN, MS, CIC, director of Infection Prevention and Quality at Methodist Hospital for Surgery in Addison, TX, and 2013 president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). "With rare exception the CMS has hit the target and the 'inside scoop' of the Skeleton Key reviewers will enhance considerations for implementation strategy."

To learn more about A Skeleton Key to CMS Success, which is available in multiple formats, please go to http://ow.ly/iw4FN

CONTACT: Gary Evans, Executive Editor, 706-310-1754

SOURCE AHC Media