Hospitals now encouraged to leverage data to improve OR environments

Transparency is key when it comes to connecting family members and caregivers – there has a been an increase in attention towards new communication tools that give families visibility into inpatients’ health status without adding stress to care teams or interrupting their workflow. 

CMS is investigating hospitals in which a high number of patients likely contracted COVID-19 while seeking care, part of an effort to increase oversight since relaunching routine inspections last year, Politico reported May 26.

The CDC will likely stop collecting hospitals' data on suspected cases of COVID-19 that have not been confirmed by tests, Bloomberg reported May 26.

Becker’s Healthcare recently spoke with Alice Brewer, director of clinical affairs for Tru-D SmartUVC, and Debra Hagberg, director of clinical affairs for PDI Healthcare, about what hospitals can do to bring their cleaning and disinfection protocols in line with best practices. Their observations suggest healthcare may be at the threshold of a new era for disinfection techniques.

Healthcare-associated infection rates fluctuated in conjunction with COVID-19 hospitalization trends in 2021, hitting a new high in the third quarter as the delta variant swept the country, according to a study published May 20 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials have confirmed a case of monkeypox in a traveler who returned to the U.S. from Canada, the agency said May 18. 

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services is investigating C. auris outbreaks at healthcare facilities across the state, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported May 17.

Healthcare facilities following good hand hygiene and other cost-effective practices can prevent 70 percent of infections, the first infection control report from the World Health Organization found. 

A federal judge's rejection of the nation's mask mandate for public transportation has reinvigorated a national debate often presented as a black and white issue: to mask or not. However, this discussion should be more nuanced and focus on the quality of masking, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, PhD, said in an April 24 interview with ABC News.

A federal judge's rejection of the nation's mask mandate for travelers taking public transportation set off a flurry of responses. 

A small specialty hospital that operates within DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit is pausing admissions due to an outbreak of the deadly, drug-resistant fungus Candida auris, the Detroit Free Press reported April 20.

Health systems are weighing and making decisions for face masks to become optional for many individuals in certain spaces. 

Healthcare facilities nationwide are grappling with conflicting CDC guidelines on masking amid the pandemic, resulting in a patchwork of policies and practices, Politico reported April 5.

The CDC updated its COVID-19 infection control guidance March 24 to make it clear that healthcare facilities should permit patients and visitors to wear more highly protective masks, like N95s. 

U.S. health officials are poised to clarify guidelines on masking practices in hospitals after reports surfaced that facilities were asking patients and visitors to swap N95 masks for surgical masks, three sources familiar with the matter told Politico.

Adding aerosolized hydrogen peroxide to infection prevention protocols reduces the risk of Clostridioides difficile infections in healthcare settings, according to a study published March 17 in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Hospitals across the country often ask patients and visitors to swap out their N95s with surgical masks in line with CDC guidelines, which public health experts say are outdated, according to Politico.

The U.S. needs to bolster its infection prevention and control infrastructure to prepare for future pandemics and the rise of healthcare-associated infections, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology said in a March 8 report.

The Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Ga., said it has not identified any new infections after warning more than 4,000 patients in February that they may have been exposed to improperly sterilized medical equipment, The Telegraph reported March 4.