The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a summary guide of infection prevention recommendations for outpatient settings.
The recommendations included in the guide reflect existing evidence-based guidelines produced by CDC and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee.
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The Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care is based primarily upon elements of standard precautions and represents the minimum infection prevention expectations for safe care in ambulatory care settings.
The guide is accompanied by an "Infection Prevention Checklist for Outpatient Settings" and supporting materials including a new, no-cost, certified continuing medical education course titled "Unsafe Injection Practices: Outbreaks, Incidents, and Root Causes" for clinicians in all healthcare settings. The video course was developed in collaboration with the Safe Injection Practices Coalition, a partnership of healthcare-related organizations formed to promote safe injection practices in all U.S. healthcare settings.
The guide and supporting materials can be used for internal assessment within a facility or practice. They complement ongoing work by CDC and CMS to integrate CDC guidelines into CMS surveys used during inspections of outpatient settings including ambulatory surgery centers.
Download the Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care (pdf).
Read the CDC news release about the new outpatient infection prevention guide.
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