What it means to you: At a September conference hosted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) to help prepare healthcare organizations for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule that took effect October 1, the U.S. Department for Health & Human Services (HHS) announced a plan to better coordinate the infection control efforts of its various agencies. The plan will target four healthcare-associated infections (HAIs): catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central-line bloodstream infections, surgical-site infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. The plan also targets Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). Read this Modern Healthcare story (login required) for more details, including reaction from hospital executives.

The scoop: Five national agencies will lead working groups to carry out the plan:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will recommend infection prevention processes for hospitals to follow.
• The CDC and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will align definitions of infections, standardize measurements and create interoperability among HHS’ computer systems and databases.
• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will develop research programs to advance infection control knowledge.
• CMS will lead an incentive and oversight group focused on identifying financial and nonfinancial ways of ensuring compliance.
• The Office of Public Health and Science will release details of the initiative to the public.

Learn more: HHS’ plan comes in response to a report issued earlier this year by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing HHS for not doing enough to establish standards in infection control and to foster collaboration among its various agencies. Read the full report here.

Also, read testimony from Dr. Don Wright, HHS’ principal deputy assistant secretary for health, in response to the GAO report.