Hospital-acquired infections affect every health organization. These infections may be caused by a variety of pathogens including bacterial, viruses, fungi and parasites. They can lead to increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. Joining us to discuss their efforts to reduce hospital-acquired infections at SSM Health are Dr. Shephali Wulff, System Vice President of Quality and Safety and Chief Quality Officer and Chris Zirges, System Director of Infection Prevention.   Guest speakers:Shephali Wulff, DOSystem Vice President of Quality and Safety, Chief Quality OfficerSSM Health Chris Zirges, DNP, APRN-BC, CIC, FAPICSystem Director of Infection PreventionSSM Health  Host:Courtney Furrow-White, MPM, RNSenior PI Program DirectorVizient    Show Notes: [:56] SSM Health infection prevention overview [1:35] Current infection disease collaboration between four teams: infection disease physicians, infection prevention, microbiology and infection disease pharmacists [2:43] Partnering with continuous improvement team to put hospital-acquired infection guidelines into a change package [3:05] Over a span of two years, efforts led to 60% infection reduction for three targeted infections [3:20] Challenges with standardizing the work [4:15] Standardizing process structure and change framework [7:00] Process checks to support freezing and/or unfreezing behavior for validity and sustainability [10:00] Training modules and tools [11:45] Focus strategy for monitoring and reducing other hospital-acquired infections   [14:40] Different processes are needed for patients that are entering care in different ways: i.e., elective vs emergent surgery vs. in-patient surgery [15:20] Lessons learned   Links | Resources: For more information: picollaboratives@vizientinc.com   Subscribe Today! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Android RSS Feed