Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) in Michigan: Past, Present and Future.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Surveillance for Healthcare Associated and Resistant Pathogens (SHARP) unit secured grant funds in 2015 to improve statewide preparedness and infection control practices and programs across the continuum of care. The program goal was to increase patient safety and expand infection control consultation. The SHARP unit focused on acute care and long-term acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities and outpatient clinics, including dental clinics. SHARP unit staff used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?(CDC) provided ICAR tools to conduct infection control needs assessments at the different facility types. This collaborative, non-regulatory, technical assistance focused on quality, process improvement. All sites volunteered. Staff provided recommendations at the time of the visit and provided a report back to the individual facility with key findings. Each report identified strengths and areas for opportunity to improve. Results were compiled into aggregate state findings, both as a whole and broken down by facility type. Eighty infection prevention needs assessments were conducted from January 2016-December 2018. 70% were done in person. Strengths included having an identified infection preventionist and a foundation for staff training and education. The main areas of opportunity identified were infection prevention training, providing competency-based training programs both upon hire and annually and creating sustainable audit/feedback programs across the identified disciplines. Now that the 3-year ebola supplemental funding period is done, the ICAR program will continue but will move in a new direction. Moving forward, the ICAR will be offered to facilities that have a healthcare-associated infection outbreak or identification of novel resistance. The ICAR is a tool in the infection preventionist toolbox. No infection prevention program is perfect and there is always room for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]