Infection Control Archives

Despite the warnings of what can or might go wrong when receiving medical and dental care, most of us don’t really think anything bad will happen to us, until it does. This was the case for a young woman in July 2013 who was having a routine dental procedure. The dentist failed to follow BestRead more…

                Karen Gregory joins Aftermath Services on the Discovery Channel for an episode of Innovations with Ed Begley, Jr.. Innovations is a television show that brings viewers the most current information of leading industries out there making a difference. One of these leaders is Aftermath Services LLC. AftermathRead more…

Patient safety is at the center of many conversations in the health care community. While many processes may impact the safety of a patient, appropriate instrument processing should rank at the top of the list of safety priorities. In this article we will address four critical steps in instrument processing, but before we start, theRead more…

It is October, and depending on where you are, there may be a chill in the air and sniffles everywhere! In fact, many states have already reported positive influenza cases which follows the typical outbreak pattern. Influenza cases typically peak between the months of December through February. The time is now to prepare your facility,Read more…

The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) is raising the alarm about antibiotics prescribed by dentists and a possible connection to rising cases of Clostridium difficile. Researchers from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) conducted a study and found that 15% of the patients diagnosed with community-associated C difficile infection (CA CDI) betweenRead more…

Goes from Paper to Mobile in Less than 90 Days with an Automated Auditing Process Total Medical Compliance (TMC) provides compliance consulting to the healthcare marketplace including HIPAA training, OSHA training, and Infection Control programs for medical and dental practices. When TMC needed a partner to upgrade its paper-based auditing processes and provide an automatedRead more…

In March of 2016, the CDC added a supplemental document to the 2003 Dental Infection Control Guidelines regarding sterilization of handpieces. This is not a new rule. Dental handpieces and associated attachments, including low-speed motors that can be removed from the air/water lines and reusable prophylaxis angles, should always be heat sterilized between patients andRead more…

Hand hygiene has received much more attention than stethoscope hygiene, but microbiology data shows that stethoscope contamination after a single exam is comparable to that of the physician’s dominant hand. Infection control guidelines from the CDC state that re-usable medical equipment, such as stethoscopes, must undergo disinfection between patients with alcohol swabs, alcohol gel, orRead more…

Compliance with industry standard infection control guidelines is good for patients, employees, and practices. Failure to follow them can result in an injection infection outbreak. Earlier this year, a small staph outbreak at a pain clinic resulted in the death of an elderly patient. Incidents like this can be avoided with proper hand-hygiene and preparationRead more…