Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and The Joint Commission, jointly published these science-based and practical recommendations for acute care hospitals for the prevention of common healthcare-associated infections.

Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals

The compendium is accessible on the The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America's (SHEA) website.

SHEA and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) jointly published these science-based and practical recommendations for acute care hospitals for the prevention of common HAIs.

The document represents practical recommendations by the leading champions in infection prevention and healthcare quality improvement: SHEA, IDSA, AHA, APIC, and the Joint Commission. The Compendium is included in the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals®.

The compendium:

  • Synthesizes best evidence for the prevention of surgical site infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, Clostridium difficile, and MRSA

  • Highlights basic HAI prevention strategies plus advanced approaches for outbreak management and other special circumstances

  • Recommends performance and accountability measures to apply to individuals and groups working to implement infection prevention practices

In 2014, the Compendium was reviewed by experts, updated, and reissued.  The Compendium provides information to assist organizations with implementing the HAI NPSGs. Although the Compendium was developed for acute care hospitals, some of its evidence-based implementation strategies are applicable to other settings.