By Gigi Acevedo-Parker
The COVID-19 outbreak wasn’t the first time infection had run rampant and patient safety had been put at risk in healthcare settings ranging from hospitals to private practices and clinics to senior care communities.
But possibly the worst outbreak in living memory turned things on its head. In general, provider readiness was inadequate — even among organizations and individuals who had met emergency planning requirements and seemingly knew how protect against infection transmission during a pandemic.
Breaking the infectious disease transmission chain
Understanding why this happened and how to protect against future outbreak starts with an understanding of infectious disease transmission. Transmission requires three factors: an infected individual, a transmission path to new people and a susceptible host. By breaking any one link in that chain, any dangerous contagion like COVID-19 can be stopped in almost any setting and situation.
It’s not as easy as it sounds, however. Healthcare organizations apply numerous strategies to counter the spread of contagion in different segments of the chain, underscoring the need for multi-layered efforts in battling infection spread.
To offset the risk of the next pandemic, healthcare organizations should reassess their protocols in infection management. And it’s not just in healthcare that organizations should reconsider policies, tools, checklists and training. The pandemic showed many other industries (ranging from meatpacking to restaurants) need to make such a reassessment a priority as well.
The four pillars of creating effective infection risk management
How do healthcare providers create effective risk management protocols to battle the spread of infectious diseases? There are four pillars that support any such effort:
- A good understanding of the patient population. It’s essential to know where your patients are coming from, and what influences their thinking and behaviour. It’s particularly important to recognize high-risk patients through patterns of infection or comorbidities. These patients may need extra precautions or the recognition that they might be better served at a different facility.
- An honest evaluation of the healthcare provider’s culture. Healthcare organizations need to evaluate their current culture and assess their preparedness. For instance, if an evaluation shows a provider doesn’t have an infectious disease prevention mindset and rigorous practices, the provider must begin establishing these elements immediately. Infection prevention should be integral to all staff training materials, including tools such as infection prevention and control checklists. Ensuring that current policies and procedures regarding communicable diseases are maintained is key, as is providers keeping appropriate records.
- Compliance with regulatory guidelines. Any assessment must evaluate compliance with protocols regarding fingernails, hand hygiene, skin antisepsis, use of injections and wearing of jewellery. (The Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, and accreditation bodies consider protocols regarding these basic elements to be the first line of defence.) In addition, organizations must actively guard against safety breaches, using tools and checklists that outline best practices to prevent infection. And it’s essential to have a clean and disinfected environment that includes medical equipment decontamination.
- Monitoring and tracking infections. By tracking laboratory results, providers demonstrate effectiveness in post-procedure infection mitigation. It’s also important to monitor infections, especially all possible nosocomial infections.
HUB International’s team of healthcare specialists is ready to help your organization assess its risks and ensure that your medical malpractice coverage is sufficient for the litigiousness that characterizes today’s medical industry.