Collaborating to Improve HAI Outbreak Detection and Response

BACKGROUND: Progress has been made in addressing HAIs in the US, but patients still experience preventable harms from HAI outbreaks. Current outbreak detection and response activities at the local and state levels are insufficient to fully protect patients and stop infection transmissions within healthcare settings. Standardized and coordinated approaches to timely outbreak detection, investigation, response, and communication could stop outbreaks from spreading and better inform prevention activities. METHODS: The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), with the support of CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, are co-leading a newly-created HAI outbreak detection and response council. The Council will be a multidisciplinary working group including public health and healthcare associations and federal agencies, and will provide leadership, improve methods, and increase collaboration.   RESULTS: Initial Council membership from ASTHO, CSTE, CDC, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has been established. The Council met in December 2015 for a two-day strategic planning process to define the Council’s central challenge over the next three years: ‘Build Capacity for Public Health and Healthcare to Improve Outbreak Detection, Response and Prevention’. Members prioritized creating a sustainable Council model, developing standardized approaches to outbreak detection and reporting, and supporting consistent and coordinated approaches to investigation and control. The Council will engage additional partners to accomplish its work.  CONCLUSIONS: The HAI outbreak detection and response Council will bring together stakeholders to make improvements in outbreak response and prevention. Council materials and next steps will be shared with session participants and more broadly. Future Council activities include defining laboratory best practices, exploring legal authorities, and developing tools and guidance.