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Information
changes quickly. Pertinent information that has been "In the News" will be posted
here. If you find information that might be useful to others, send it to KaAureden@aol.com
and we will get it posted. Deadline May 17, 2011:
APIC MEMBERS – YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED Submit your comments to The Joint Commission
on the proposed requirements “Influenza Vaccination of Staff and Licensed Independent
Practitioners” for the following Program(s): Ambulatory Health Care, Hospitals,
Critical Access Hospitals, Behavioral Health Care, Laboratory Services, Long Term
Care, Office-Based Surgery, Home Care, Long Term Care (Medicare/Medicaid)
Read
more here
MAY 13, 2011 :: Annual
Chicago APIC all day educational event “Old Friends, New Trends” (Spring 2011)
Note the Early Bird Registration for APIC Chicago Members until April 25th - $25.00!
Read
more here
March 1, 2011 :: Read
the CDC
press release and Vital
Signs Fact Sheet on HAIs – CLABSI reduction progress
Deadline
March 2, 2010 :: chapter members please vote online for approval
of their chapter bylaws at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/APICByLawsVote2011
Voting is open to chapter members (Member ID required) until
March 2, 2011 at 5pm.
February 2011
:: Senator Althoff has introduced a bill, SB 1805, to require
the yearly report on MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections that the state
Department of Public Health is already required to publish. Report is to be
based on a surveillance system substantially similar to the National Healthcare
Safety Network. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Assignments.
To read a text of the bill, please click here.
February 2011 :: Senators Radogno, Hunter, and Garrett
are co-sponsors bill SB 1378, referred to the Senate Committee on Assignments,
to require that a death certificate indicate the presence of MRSA if it was a
contributing factor to, or the cause of, the death. To read the text of the bill,
please
click here
February 2011:: Newly Introduced
Illinois Legislation: - Representatives
R. Gabel (D-18-Evanston) and K. Farnham (D-43-Elgin) co-sponsors of a bill, HB
1096, to require skilled nursing facilities to designate an Infection Prevention
and Control Professional to develop and implement policies governing control of
infections and communicable diseases. The designated Infection Prevention and
Control Professional would be qualified through education, training, experience,
certification or a combination of these factors. This bill has been referred to
the House Rules Committee. To read the text of the bill, please
click here
- Senator H. Steans (D-7-Chicago)
introduced SB0145 to amend Nursing Home Care Act. It provides that a skilled nursing
facility shall designate a person(s) as Infection Prevention and Control Professionals
to develop and implement policies governing control of infections and communicable
diseases and that person(s)’ qualifications shall be documented and made
available for inspection by the Department of Public Health. Effective on January
1, 2012.
February 4,
2011: MCHC notice “MDRO bacteria – Call to Action” , a conference
to assist healthcare facilities in battling multidrug-resistant organisms.
Read
more here
January 26, 2011:
Approval of Chicago APIC chapter bylaws will go to member vote at the Jan 26th
meeting.
Read
more here
January 07, 2011
CMS Office of Public Affairs “The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a proposed rule that would establish
a new hospital value-based purchasing program that would reward hospitals for
providing high quality, safe care for patients. Under the program, hospitals that
perform well on quality measures relating both to clinical process of care and
to patient experience of care, or those making improvements in their performance
on those measures, would receive higher payments under the program”
Read
more here
December 2, 2010 ::
The Joint Commission is seeking input on two proposed National Patient Safety
Goals 1) ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and 2)catheter-associated urinary
tract infections (CAUTI). Comment period end date: January 27, 2011 All APIC members
are encouraged to review and comment! Visit the Joint Commission website and click
on Standards, then field reviews, or read
more here
2011 APIC Film Festival Submittals
Due 12/31/10 APIC is now accepting submittals for the 2011
APIC Film Festival, scheduled for June 27-29, 2011 in Baltimore, MD. Submittals
should be no longer than 10 minutes and may include short documentaries, films,
and informational videos that promote best practices in infection prevention and
control. The winning entry will receive a complimentary registration to APIC 2011
to see their film/video played in front of a live audience. To enter - Read
the APIC 2011 Film Festival Rules and Guidelines.
2011 Call for Abstracts Now Open The APIC 2011
Annual Conference Committee invites you to present research papers and educational
presentations of scientific quality in the areas of infection prevention and control,
healthcare epidemiology and related fields. Abstracts are peer-reviewed for quality
of research, educational or scientific content, logical presentation, and impact
on infection prevention, infection control and related fields. All accepted abstracts
will be published in the online edition of AJIC (American Journal of
Infection Control). All proposals must be submitted
online by 11:59pm PST Friday, January 14, 2011.
IIPW
2010 Oct 17 – 23: Theme of this year’s International Infection
Prevention Week is “infection prevention is everyone’s business!” IIPW highlights
the infection prevention profession and its work in educating healthcare professionals
and administrators, legislators, and consumers about the importance of reducing
infection. For a list of the APIC sponsored activities for IIPW 2010
Read
more here
August 23 APIC Webinar on the new
CMS requirement for HAI Reporting: Dr. Pollock’s power
point slides available here
New
AHRQ HAI Data Show Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Greatly Increase the
Length and Cost of Hospital Stays
Read
more here
PLEASE PARTICIPATE in the 2010
MRSA II survey (September 30, 2010 deadline). APIC appreciates your efforts
to protect our patients from MRSA and other HAIs. Thank you for your dedication
to APIC and the elimination of HAIs.
June 21,
2010 :: CDC’s “Updated Guidance: Prevention Strategies for Seasonal
Influenza in Healthcare Settings” which will be published in Federal Register:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-15015.pdf
Please note the a 30-day public comment period.
April
19, 2010 “Illinois SSI Reporting Q&A” has published a compilation
of some of the questions that have come in from users, with answers from IDPH
and the team at NHSN.
Read
more here
March 2010 :: Report
from Chicago APIC Legislative Representative Mary Alice Lavin: MRSA
Legislation bill SB 2981 was passed with amendments by the Senate and
referred to the House Committee on Rules on March 12. The bill was amended by
Senator Christine Radogno, the author of the original bill, to repeal the January
1, 2011 sunset date for the “MRSA Screening and Reporting Act” but leaving
the rest of the law unchanged.
March 5 2010
:: PowerPoint on “F441 Interpretive Guideline Changes” by Judith
Conway, RN, BS, CIC presented at Chicago APIC Educational meetings at Lutheran
Home in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Click
here for presentaion
Thursday, January
21, 2010 :: Chicago APIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM "Illinois Healthcare-Associated
Infections (HAI) Plan" Mary Fornek
Click
here for PowerPoint Presentation
December
2009 :: Notice regarding lack of FDA clearance for Steris System 1 and
FDA recommendation that all users transition to alternative methods within the
next 3-6 months http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm191585.htm
Also, read MCHC
letter here
Thursday, January 21, 2010 :: Chicago
APIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM "Business Case for Infection Control"
PowerPoint
presentation: "The Business Case for Infection Prevention and Control: Knowledge,
Tools and Timing" Denise Murphy, RN, BSN, MPH, CIC
Click
here for the PowerPoint Presentation
December
2009 :: Illinois SSI reporting requirements by April 2010: CABG and TKR
Read
more here December 2009 :: Illinois HAI
Prevention Plan of December 23, 2009
Read
more here
Notice
of proposed Chicago APIC bylaw change for the December 2009 business meeting
June
9, 2009 :: APIC Position Paper on Automated Surveillance Technologies “The
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) supports
the use of automated surveillance technologies as an essential part of infection
prevention and control activities” ….. Read
position paper here
May 26, 2009 :: Mentorship
Program for Chicago APIC members
Click
here to read more here
February 2009 - Informational
letter from Chicago APIC Legislative Representative Mary Alice Lavin about
Illinois MRSA legislation - SB 185, the “MRSA Screening, Prevention, and
Reporting Act” and SB 1712, the “K-12 Educational MRSA Prevention Act” Read
More Here
January 2009 Announcement: APIC
Chicago Metro Area Chapter Member Help Line Call Me For Questions - - As a
service to Chicago APIC members, a list of members who are ready and willing to
assist with questions on a variety of infection prevention topics is available.
There is also a perminate link on the left column of the Resource
Page. January 2009: APIC Chicago Metro
Area Chapter Survey – Executive Summary was presented at the January Chicago
APIC meeting, Click
here to access the summary
December 2008
CBIC news: Elimination of 2 year practice requirement
Read
more here
October 2008
The Compendium of Strategies to
Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals was produced
by SHEA and IDSA, in partnership with AHA. APIC, and The Joint Commission. These
five leading healthcare organizations have come together to publish practical,
science-based strategies to help prevent the six most important healthcare-associated
infections (HAIs). Click
here to access the compendium
August 2008
CMS Issues Final IPPS Rule for Fiscal Year
2009
Click
here to view the Final Rule
Click
here to view Press Release related to the Final Rule
20
July 08 IMPORTANT
IDPH REPORTING UPDATE
May 9, 2008 CMS-ProposeHospAcqConditions2009
April 2008
CMS-1390-Proposed Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective
Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 (Display Date: 04/14/2008; Publication
Date: 04/30/2008)
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/
April
15, 2008 Hearing
entitled "Healthcare Associated Infections: A Preventable Epidemic"
held Wednesday, April 16th before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee
on Government Oversight and Reform.
Reade More Here:
March 14, 2008 Amendment
to IL Control of Tuberculosis Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 696) Illinois Register Citation:
32 Ill. Reg. 4010) The rules previously required
the use of the Mantoux tuberculin skin test (TST) as the only test approved for
screening for LTBI. The amendment allows the use of a newly developed FDA-approved
blood test for the detection of patients with active TB disease or LTBI.
Click
here to read more
October 2007
OSHA Annual TB fit test requirement: Lisa Tomlinson, APIC Director
of Government Affairs, has confirmed that the requirement for ANNUAL FIT TEST
(TB) is enforceable on October 1, 2007 despite much effort to change and prevent
this requirement.
>>
Read more here
August 2007
The Governor signed both HB 192 and SB 233 on 8/20/07.
July 2007 The IL Hospital
Report Card Act became effective March 28, 2007. Read
more here
June 7, 2007
IDPH has published a memo (6/7/07) that includes many useful CA MRSA references.
Click
here for the IDPH memo The healthcare provider guidelines
highlighted in the memo is entitled “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus
aureus in Illinois: Guidelines for the Primary Care Provider”. It can be
accessed on the web at http://www.idph.state.il.us/health/infect/MRSA_Provider.htm
April 25, 2007 CMS
Proposes Changes For Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System It
is noteworthy that use of "Present on Admissions Codes" also take effect
on October 1, 2007. Proposed conditions that
will not be covered include HAI related issues: Catheter-associated urinary tract
infections; pressure ulcers; Staphylococcus aureus septicema; and "serious
preventable events:" object left in surgery; air embolism, and blood incompatibility.
http://www.apic.org/EUpdate
April 2007 Recommendations
for Surveillance of Clostridium difficile-Associated Disease McDonald
LC, et.al. (Ad Hoc Clostridium difficile Surveillance Working Group) ICHE 2007
Feb;28 (2):140-5
March 2007 Available
now on APIC web site (under Government Advocacy): Guide
to the Elimination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Hospital
Settings, created by the MRSA Task Force and released on March 14,
2007, provides infection prevention and control professionals with a step-by-step
approach to battle MRSA transmission. A range of approaches has been included
to make the guide appropriate for any size or type of facility.
MRSA
Legislative Issues | 
