Infection control risk reduction strategies through rapid and effective two-way electronic communication

ISSUE: Community outbreaks of SARS, tuberculosis, and pertussis illustrate the need for effective and timely infection control communication with healthcare professionals. This is in addition to the ongoing need for health system–wide communication of standard principals of infection control such as hand hygiene, exposure control plans, and other risk-reduction strategies. Infection control electronic mail and Website information are two tools for rapid and uniform communication to healthcare providers and professionals. PROJECT: In February 2004, the infection control staff developed two linked tools for rapid communication: a prior, internal, health system infection control Web page with policies, procedures, and external resource links, plus a new electronic mail alert system titled “infection control risk reduction strategies” (RR-Strategies). RR-Strategies are scheduled timely topics, twice monthly linked to the internal infection control Website with four objectives: 1) alerts for early recognition of community infections, 2) prevention of healthcare-associated infections, 3) links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and external resources, 4) reminders to report health system–associated infections through telephone numbers and electronic links to the infection control staff. RESULTS: RR-Strategies for hand hygiene, exposure control plans, and isolation were linked to the internal Website and increased utilization nearly 20-fold from a baseline of 53 to 999 hits per quarter. The timely RR-Strategies for pertussis and influenza also increased the number of requests for infection control staff assistance. LESSONS LEARNED: Bimonthly electronic infection control “risk reduction strategies” enhanced electronic and two-way communication with the medical center staff. Effective electronic RR-Strategies should be timely, crafted for ease of use by providers, and summarized with resource links for additional professional information. Linkage to the health system infection control Website provides uniform communication of policies and procedures. Electronic communication must provide value added information to assist healthcare professionals with limited time to search for infection control information.