Infection Control in The Health Care Office Practice
John W. Sensakovic, MD, PhD
Director of Nosocomial Disease Laboratory
St. Michael's Medical Center
Newark, New Jersey;
Professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease
School of Graduate Medical Education
Seton Hall University
South Orange, New Jersey
and
Judith D. Leschek, RN, BSN, CIC
Director, Infection Control
JFK Medical Center of Solaris Health Systems
Edison, New Jersey
Sponsored by
The Academy of Medicine of New Jersey
through an unrestricted educational grant from
Glaxo Wellcome.
Credit
The Academy of Medicine of New Jersey designates this activity for a maximum of 1 hour in category 1 credit towards the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.
Disclosure
Dr. Sensakovic: No disclosure
Ms. Leschek: No disclosure
Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, the physician shall be able to:
- describe the chain of infection;
- list which immunizations are part of an employee health program;
- describe the four aspects of standard precautions in the health care/physician’s office.
Date of release: June 1998
Introduction
As the health care system continues to undergo major evolutionary changes, the need for more universal infection control is increasingly evident. This is closely associated with the growing pressures for maximum cost-effectiveness in all areas of health care, as progressively greater reliance is being placed on ambulatory and outpatient care.
As a result, more effective infection control procedures outside of the traditional hospital setting are becoming essential. This includes the imposition of official regulatory standards, in order to minimize the risk to health care workers of disease transmission from infected ambulatory care patients.
The transmission of infection has been documented in a wide range of health care provider settings. These include general medical offices, emergency departments and facilities, clinics, ophthalmology practices, and dental offices. Clearly, therefore, adequate infection control practices and procedures must be implemented for the prevention of infection transmission in all of these settings, whether a small office practice or more comprehensive, multifaceted clinical facilities.
Regardless of the size or scope of the specific health care setting, responsibility for infection control supervision must be formally delegated to a specific individual or team within the facility. This important function includes regular monitoring of compliance, as well as periodic updating of infection control procedures as required.
It is important to note that the risk of infection in clinical practice extends well beyond the use of invasive procedures. Accordingly, optimal infection control is as essential within individual physicians' offices and other health care providers' facilities as for large hospitals and institutional settings. The surveillance, prevention and control of infection in all health care environments are directly associated with the basic objectives of increasing quality of care, maximum cost-effectiveness, and a reduced risk of infection for patients and health care workers alike.
