The Joint Commission has Recognized Genomic Surveillance for the Detection of Transmission in Hospitals

Honors pioneering work at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh led by members of NGD Infection Prevention's Scientific Advisory Board

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NGD Infection Prevention (NGD) today congratulates UPMC Presbyterian Hospital on receiving the Joint Commission's John M. Eisenberg Local Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality Award, for the pioneering implementation of bacterial whole genome sequencing (WGS) for the detection of transmission of infection. Drs. Alex Sundermann and Lee Harrison, who have led this work, are both members of NGD's Scientific Advisory Board, with Dr. Sundermann also a consultant to NGD. This recognition by the Joint Commission, a highly respected independent organization that evaluates and accredits hospitals and other care facilities, brings a great deal of credibility as hospitals consider the operational and patient benefits of using prospective WGS to prevent transmission. In addition to patient safety benefits, the team at Presbyterian Hospital recently reported that the use of prospective WGS to detect transmission resulted in reductions in length-of-stay and net cost savings substantially above the cost of the WGS service.

"This recognition is a powerful and timely acknowledgment by one of the nation's authorities in hospital practice and patient safety, emphasizing the use of prospective bacterial WGS to detect, not simply to confirm, transmission of infection in hospitals and other care settings, helping infection prevention and control (IPC) teams identify root cause to guide elective intervention and prevent further spread," commented Dr. Paul Rhodes, NGD founder and CEO. "Multiple published studies^1-4 have demonstrated that whole-genome sequencing can identify hospital transmission events and outbreaks that go undetected by conventional infection prevention surveillance. This growing body of evidence reinforces the importance of moving beyond retrospective outbreak investigation toward routine, prospective genomic surveillance—enabling infection prevention teams to detect potential transmission earlier and intervene before additional patients are affected, and the recognition by the Joint Commission is a very timely affirmation as we begin broad deployment of a cost-effective, practical, automated sequencing and bioinformatics IPC solution."

NGD's highly automated NGD200 system performs sample preparation at high volume and low cost, and NGD's cloud bioinformatics performs all QC, analysis and transmission detection hands-free, with 48-sample throughput overnight, with no need for specialized technician involvement, all at a very low cost/sample, practical for any hospital. The NGD system also includes EpiAssist, which automates indentation of putative root cause, so IPC teams can focus on validation of WGS-based detection of transmission followed by targeted intervention.

About NGD Infection Prevention
NGD Infection Prevention provides a fully automated, end-to-end whole-genome sequencing platform and bioinformatics pipeline designed to enable hospitals to detect and prevent transmission in real time. The NGD200 system processes up to 48 bacterial samples with minimal hands-on time, while NGD EpiAssist automates bioinformatics and supports root-cause determination, delivering actionable reports overnight. The company operates a laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a business office in Boston, and a subsidiary in Israel.

1. Sundermann, A. J., Chen, J., Kumar, P., Ayres, A. M., Cho, S. T., Ezeonwuka, C., Griffith, M. P., Miller, J. K., Mustapha, M. M., Pasculle, A. W., Saul, M. I., Shutt, K. A., Srinivasa, V., Waggle, K., Snyder, D. J., Cooper, V. S., Van Tyne, D., Snyder, G. M., Marsh, J. W., . . . Harrison, L. H. (2022). Whole-genome sequencing surveillance and machine learning of the electronic health record for enhanced healthcare outbreak detection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 75(3), 476–482. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab946

2. Sundermann, A. J., Penzelik, J., Ayres, A., Snyder, G. M., & Harrison, L. H. (2023). Sensitivity of National Healthcare Safety Network definitions to capture healthcare-associated transmission identified by whole-genome sequencing surveillance. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 44(10), 1663–1665. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2023.52

3. Talbot, B. M., Jacko, N. F., Petit, R. A., III, Pegues, D. A., Shumaker, M. J., Read, T. D., & David, M. Z. (2022). Unsuspected clonal spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus causing bloodstream infections in hospitalized adults detected using whole genome sequencing. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 75(12), 2104–2112. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciac339

4. Rabii, K. B., Takats, C., Putzel, G., Tillman, A., Podkowik, M., McWilliams, J., Samhadaneh, N., Shenderovich, J., Arguelles, N., Srivastava, A., Drlica, K., Torres, V. J., Pironti, A., Hochman, S. E., Renson, A., & Shopsin, B. (2026). Sampling and host-strain interactions shape detection of Staphylococcus aureus transmission in hospitals. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiag361

SOURCE Next Gen Diagnostics