What are the costs of HAIs each year? Up to $45 billion—and nearly 90,000 deaths. In response, many states have implemented mandatory HAI reporting laws. Unfortunately, these new laws can add even more reporting to an already demanding work day, according to a recent article in Contagion Live. These mandates leave little time for duties that strengthen infection prevention practices, like rounding on units, isolation monitoring, and staff and patient education, among others.
In efforts to understand how these state laws impact individuals working in infection prevention, the American Journal of Infection Control recently published a new study of 1,036 hospital infection prevention departments. The study assessed the implications for infection preventionists in states with mandated reporting laws.
“The need to fulfill reporting mandates and an increased shift to additional surveillance activities has an important impact on the traditional role of the IP, potentially diverting IPs from activities such as education and prevention to increased surveillance and administrative work,” the investigators noted.
Taking time away from IPs can hinder frontline efforts, which runs counter to HAI prevention strategies. The RD UVC system is the only system available that measures, records and reports. It uses proven, patented remote sensors that measure and ensure delivery of published UVC doses at all points of disinfection every time. IPs can access data in real time, online, with industry-leading IN-TRAK™ infection-tracking software via a tablet or desktop computer.
The most advanced UVC system available to IPs, the RD UVC system automatically captures and reports disinfection data in real time, ensuring IP teams have the proof of compliance data it needs for efficacy reporting.