On Monday, The Joint Commission enterprise launched a health care-associated infections (HAI) electronic portal that provides a number of HAI resources. The “HAI Portal” (http://www.jointcommission.org/hai.aspx) is a joint effort of The Joint Commission enterprise which includes the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, Joint Commission Resources, and Joint Commission International. The goal of the HAI Portal is to provide an integrated “kiosk” of HAI resources – including those that are free and for purchase – in one organized area that is accessible through any of the Joint Commission related websites. In 2011, The Joint Commission enterprise identified a customer need to have all HAI related resources easily available to customers, such as those on hand hygiene, central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), surgical site infections (SSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). These HAI resources are the foundation of the HAI Portal, which also includes other resources such as those on influenza, staff education and vaccinations.
“Health care-associated infections are harmful for patients, costly for health care organizations and largely preventable. We hope that the easily accessible information on the HAI Portal will assist health care organizations, practitioners and caregivers to prevent HAIs in their organizations, practices and homes,” says Jerod M. Loeb, Ph.D., executive vice president, Healthcare Quality Evaluation, The Joint Commission. The HAI Portal is designed to be easy to use. Resources are organized under three headings:
- HAI Topics (MDRO, CLABSI, SSI and others)
- Infection Prevention and Control (resources related to environment of care, hand hygiene and staff education)
- HAI Information related to specific Accreditation Programs (ambulatory care, behavioral health care, critical access hospital, hospital, home care, laboratory services and long term care)
(Contact: Kelly Podgorny, kpodgorny@jointcommission.org)