• A guideline for implementing an antimicrobial stewardship pro- gram published last year in Clinical Infectious Diseases states the two key components of any HAI pre- vention program in all health care delivery sites are infection preven- tion and control to reduce the risk of transmission and antimicrobial stewardship to reduce emergence of untreatable multidrug-resistant infections. Guidance states every prescriber must use antibiotics only when indicated for treatment of bacterial infections and assure the right drug for the right bug for the right duration.
• Surgeons must knowtheir surgical site infection rates and work to- ward reduction.
What does this mean for us in prac-
tice? It means prevention of HAIs is now everyone’s responsibility and no longer the sole responsibility of the infection preventionist in acute care hospitals. For physicians and surgeons, an area of great impact is an aware- ness of established, evidence-based guidelines to use medical devices and antimicrobial agents judiciously. We mustwelcome reminders from
our coworkers when we have forgot- ten to observe hand hygiene or proper isolation precautions and embrace the alerts in electronic health records that guide us to make more prudent antibiotic choices. Communication among all subspecialists and primary care physicians and surgeons is neces- sary so we are allworking toward the same goal, using the same principles. Wemust remember each of us has the opportunity with every health care en- counter to contribute to HAI preven- tion and improve patient safety. Q
CHARLES J. LERNER, MD, is a hospital
epidemiologist in private practice in San Antonio. JANE D. SIEGEL, MD, is a pediatric infec-
tious disease physician and has served as the medical director of the Corpus Christi State Sup- ported Living Center for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
16 TEXAS MEDICINE February 2017
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