MCN Healthcare: Policy Management and Compliance Tools

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is making available for public comment Phase 3 of the 5-year National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination (HAI Action Plan). The new Long-Term Care (LTC) chapter focuses on combating HAIs in nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities. It extends earlier efforts that focused on acute care hospitals (Phase 1), ambulatory surgical centers and end-stage renal disease facilities (Phase 2), and influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel (Phase 2).

The LTC strategy proposes to expand the activities of multiple federal and nonfederal partners to combat HAIs prevalent in LTC settings, including urinary tract infection (UTI), lower respiratory tract infections, influenza and influenza-like illness, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), and skin, soft tissue, and wound infections. The chapter proposes that progress be assessed by tracking resident influenza and pneumonia vaccination rates and the rates of two HAIs:   clostridium difficile infection and urinary tract infection.  The chapter details strategies for addressing these HAI and proposes activities including expanded research, extended application of existing practice guidelines, development of new practice guidelines, provider implementation of national quality improvement initiatives, and payment policies that promote infection control and reduction.

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