Bacteria, Infection Control, Hospitals, Product Evaluation, Environmental Services, Copper, HAIs, Cleaning Protocols, Antibiotic Resistance, Patient Safety, Antimicrobials, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Interventions, C. difficile 3 min read. Bacterial Armor: The Germs that Become Tanks and How to Eradicate Them Erica Mitchell July 10 2023 Eradicating pathogens from environmental surfaces in hospitals is a daily fight. Keeping bacteria from reproducing on surfaces, finding reservoirs in... Read more
Contamination Statistics, Bedrails, Infection Control, Hospitals, Germs, HAIs, Cleaning Protocols, Patient Safety, Design, Epidemiology, Interventions, Cost-Effectiveness, Public Health, Public Reporting 3 min read. DALYs and QALYs + HAIs: The Costly Connection Erica Mitchell June 12 2023 In our previous posts about DALYs and QALYs, we have defined the terms and presented how the healthcare field calculates these two measures of... Read more
Infection Control, Hospitals, Product Evaluation, Consumer, Patient Safety, Medicare/Medicaid, Design, Cost-Effectiveness, Costs, Architecture, Construction, Innovations 2 min read. How Can a Healthcare Investment Increase Market Share AND Reduce Cost of Care? Focus on Infection Prevention. Erica Mitchell May 15 2023 Large-scale healthcare projects, from new projects to renovations, face a challenging future. After the tedious process of securing permits and... Read more
Patient Advocacy, Infection Control, Hospitals, Consumer, HAIs, Medicare/Medicaid, Epidemiology, Surveillance, Public Health, Public Reporting 2 min read. The Patient Experience and Infection Control Erica Mitchell May 8 2023 In today's healthcare marketplace, it is growing commonplace to consider patients as customers - and the shoe fits, so to speak. Patients do have... Read more
MRSA, Infection Control, Hospitals, Research, Consumer, HAIs, Patient Safety, Medicare/Medicaid, Epidemiology, Interventions, Public Health, MDROs, C. difficile, Public Reporting 2 min read. What Do HAI Professionals Think about HAI Metrics? A Study Reveals The Answer Erica Mitchell May 1 2023 One of the most tracked and reported metrics in today's healthcare facilities is infection rates. Anyone working in a hospital is aware of the... Read more
Infection Control, Hospitals, Product Evaluation, Consumer, HAIs, Patient Safety, Costs, Innovations 3 min read. Infection Control and the Healthcare Supply Chain: Who Makes Decisions? Erica Mitchell April 24 2023 Last week we provided a big-picture overview of the healthcare supply chain, from supplier to patient. This week, we will dig deeper into this... Read more
Infection Control, Hospitals, Germs, HAIs, Antibiotic Resistance, Epidemiology, Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs), MDROs 2 min read. A Wave of Candida auris infections: Crashing in Hospitals Nationwide Erica Mitchell April 3 2023 We've covered Candida auris in this blog before. Not only has it been one of the pathogens of concern cited by the Centers for Disease Control and... Read more
Infection Control 2 min read. The Carole DeMille Award Erica Mitchell March 22 2023 Last Saturday concluded Patient Safety Awareness Week but like the members of the APIC would say, every day is for patient safety. One such member... Read more
Bacteria, Infection Control, Health & Wellness, Antibiotic Resistance, Special Populations 2 min read. Increase in Resistant Shigella Infections: 5 Things to Know about Shigella XDR Erica Mitchell March 6 2023 A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health Advisory addresses an increase in "extensively-drug-resistant" (XDR) Shigella, the... Read more
Infection Control, Microbiology 2 min read. ATP Testing: Fireflies Light the Way to Cleaner Surfaces Erica Mitchell February 22 2023 In hospitals across the nation, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) monitors are used to test surfaces for the presence of biological contamination. Armed... Read more
Infection Control, Hospitals, Product Evaluation, Consumer, HAIs, Interventions, Innovations 4 min read. Adopting a Standard of Care: Says Who? Erica Mitchell February 6 2023 In our last post, we explored how adopting a new product can result in some heavy lifting. Not only does product adoption require financial... Read more
Patient Advocacy, Infection Control, HAIs, Patient Safety, Policy, Equity, Public Health 2 min read. Social Determinants of Health and Infection Control Erica Mitchell January 9 2023 Medical researchers have recently placed more emphasis on the non-medical conditions that impact patient health and outcomes. Collectively known as... Read more