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CDC releases infection prevention guide for outpatient care

The CDC has released a guide and checklist to help health care professionals prevent infections in outpatient settings, according to a press release.

The guide came in response to a surge in patients being treated on an outpatient basis and offers information on endoscopy clinics, surgery centers, primary care offices and pain management clinics. Many of the recommendations in the guideline were based on other evidence-based CDC guidelines applying to a cross-section of health facilities, including hospitals.

A video CME course on safe injection practices is included in the package, and practitioners are instructed on handling contaminated medical equipment.

The CDC noted that all outpatient practices should have an infection control specialist on staff or available. Outpatient facility staff should develop and maintain infection prevention and occupational health programs that include written infection-prevention policies and procedures appropriate for the services provided by the facility, according to the CDC.

Facilities should provide infection prevention training for staff and ensure that adequate infection prevention supplies are available. The guideline may also be used for internal assessment, and facilities are encouraged to use the checklist to perform audits and quality assurance evaluations.

Outpatient practices include nonhospital-based clinics and physician offices, urgent care centers, outpatient surgical centers, public health clinics, imaging centers, oncology clinics, outpatient behavioral health and substance abuse clinics, physical therapy and rehabilitation centers and hospital-based outpatient departments and clinics, according to the release.

For more information, please visit the CDC website here.

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