New York State Infection Control

Excerpt

Infection control refers to the policies and procedures implemented to prevent and minimize the spread of infections in hospitals and other healthcare settings, with the primary purpose of reducing the incidence of infections. Infection control as a formal entity was established in the United States in the early 1950s. By the late 1950s and 1960s, a small number of hospitals began to recognize health care–associated infections and implemented some of these infection control concepts. These early infection control programs primarily focused on the surveillance and identification of risk factors for health care–associated infections. However, most infection control programs were organized and managed by large academic centers rather than public health agencies, resulting in sporadic efficiency and suboptimal outcomes.

The current era in infection control began in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, marked by 3 pivotal events. These events included the Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on errors in health care, the establishment of National Patient Safety Goals by the Joint Commission in 2003, and the 2004 and 2006 publications of significant reductions in bloodstream infection rates through the standardization of the central venous catheter insertion process.

This new era in healthcare epidemiology is characterized by consumer demands for greater transparency and accountability, increased scrutiny and regulation, and expectations for rapid reductions in health care–associated infection rates. The role of infection control is to prevent and reduce the risk of health care–associated infections through comprehensive programs that include surveillance, isolation, outbreak management, environmental hygiene, employee health, education, and infection prevention policies and management.