Key Objectives:
This Roundtable Session will address the following objectives:
- Discuss CDC partners activities in support of state and local health department ICAR activities
- Discuss strategies for partner engagement
- Discuss how described partnerships supplement the overall ICAR strategy
- Discuss potential levers for implementation of prevention guidelines and policies across healthcare settings
Brief Summary:
Healthcare settings play a pivotal role in the identification, prevention and containment of infectious disease threats in the US. State and local health departments contribute to effective oversight of healthcare settings, providing targeted assessments of infection control competency, identifying gaps in performance, facilitating programs and policy change to remediate gaps, and implementing response and prevention activities aimed at reducing pathogen transmission in healthcare settings. To accomplish this work, state and local health departments can look to non-governmental partners for additional support in connecting with healthcare facilities and building relationships to facilitate the assessment process. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with partner organizations to provide additional support and technical assistance for state and local health departments. Supported activities include, but are not limited to, identifying barriers and facilitators to healthcare facility engagement in the assessment process, improving direct outreach to facilities targeted for assessment, and identifying ways healthcare epidemiologists can effectively respond to public health and facility infectious disease outbreaks. Additionally, CDC partners are engaging directly with professional organizations and healthcare systems to assess implementation of current infection prevention and control guidelines used in outpatient settings, and creation and dissemination of additional infection control assessment training tools for healthcare facilities. Partner efforts have been shaped to support and assist completion of state and local health department activities, yet avoid duplication of efforts. In this session, participants will learn about current partner efforts to support state healthcare facility assessment activities in acute care, outpatient, dialysis and long-term care settings, as well as support for overall infection prevention and control efforts, and how these activities align with CDC’s Infection Control Assessment and Response program. Methods of engaging with these partner efforts will be discussed.