All Entries in the "CDC/infection control" Category

Relaying patient information to third parties during an emergency

The possibility exists during community emergencies (or potential swine flu outbreaks, hmmmm) that your organization will need to pass along sensitive data about patients to outside entities.

EPs 11 and 12 under Joint Commission standard EM.02.02.01 require that [more]

Swine flu cases grab the attention of emergency planners

Hi, it’s Scott Wallask. For those who haven’t bookmarked it yet, check out the CDC’s web page on the swine flu investigation, as it features the latest recommendations for healthcare facilities.

I was talking to an emergency planner at a Pittsburgh-area health system today about the swine flu situation, and he told me he is holding daily meetings with hospital and community reps from infection control, administration, physicians, corporate communications, human resources, county public health, the local school of public health, and others.

Clean linen and the departed

Here’s an interesting scenario that came across my inbox: Someone asked colleagues on an online chat group about the need to keep clean linen covered in a morgue.

There is no Joint Commission requirement in this regard. However, in the hands of a particularly prickly surveyor, [more]

It’s hard to precisely state what “clean” means, from a regulatory stance

From a practical standpoint, there are no specifically recognized standards for cleaning in hospitals. The closest thing to such a beast is the CDC’s Guideline for Environmental Infection Control in Healthcare Facilities.

Having worked with any number of environmental services outsourcing vendors (I’m not going to name names here, but you can probably figure out who they are), I know that each has [more]

What The Joint Commission says about housekeeping activities

I fielded a question recently about what housekeeping regulations are out there.

With the Joint Commission (which pretty much reflects the CMS Conditions of Participation concerns in this area), the applicable standards would be: [more]

Gloves don’t have to be one-size-fits-all

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask checking in after a bit of an absence to welcome my new son in the world. During my stay at the maternity unit of the hospital, I saw a simple but effective way to further encourage hand glove use. [more]

National refrigerator temperature standard? Nope

There is no specific, nationally recognized or enforced requirement to monitor the temperature of refrigerators. There are some state and local restrictions, but that’s all.

The requirement is that each organization will appropriately manage the temperature of all applicable food/medication storage devices, period, end of story.

Clean up cardboard boxes frequently to limit fire risks

As to the life safety implications of cardboard boxes, they are indeed made of a combustible material and we should do everything we can to minimize their presence, especially for extended periods of time.

Waste removal processes for cardboard should be effective. While there is no specific time measure, it’s generally demonstrable when the waste removal process is not working properly.

Wag the magnet: An MRI cleaning tale

There appears to be an outbreak (small pun intended) of chatter regarding the cleanliness of the MRI environment, including equipment. And now that The Joint Commission has weighed in, so to speak, I figured it might be worth a thought or two.

First off, having spent a fair amount of time in my healthcare life working in environmental services [more]

Does OSHA have a new bloodborne bard?

I just had to pass along this post from our sister blog, OSHA Healthcare Advisor, as it actually connects William Shakespeare’s prose to OSHA “regualtory speak” in the bloodborne pathogens standard.

I’m not a big Shakespeare fan, but this one had me laughing out loud a few times. Well worth a read.