In Outpatient Settings
The transition of healthcare delivery from acute care hospitals to ambulatory care settings, along with ongoing outbreaks and patient notification events, have demonstrated the need for greater understanding and implementation of basic infection prevention guidance. Guide to Infection Prevention in Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care distills existing infection prevention guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC).
Infection Prevention Guide
Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care
This summary guide of infection prevention recommendations for outpatient (ambulatory care) settings.
Infection Prevention Checklist
The Infection Prevention Checklist for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care is a companion to the Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care. The checklist should be used for two purposes:
- To ensure that the facility has appropriate infection prevention policies and procedures in place and supplies to allow healthcare personnel to provide safe care.
- To systematically assess infection prevention practices of individual healthcare personnel.
Outpatient Oncology Settings
Basic Infection Control and Prevention Plan for Outpatient Oncology Settings
This document has been developed for outpatient oncology facilities to serve as a model for a basic infection control and prevention plan. It contains policies and procedures tailored to these settings to meet minimal expectations of patient protections as described in the CDC Guide to Infection Prevention in Outpatient Settings. The elements in this document are based on CDC’s evidence-based guidelines and guidelines from professional societies (e.g., Oncology Nursing Society).
For more information and tools to help oncology health care providers standardize and improve infection control and prevention practices, please visit Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients Information for Health Care Providers.
CDC Resources
CDC has numerous resources to assist clinicians in delivering safe care. Please visit:
Continuing Medical Education
CDC Unsafe Injection Practices: Outbreaks, Incidents, and Root Causes no-cost continuing medical education course on Medscape
CDC Expert Commentary
Keeping Patients Safe From Infection in Outpatient Settings:
Author: Joseph Perz, DrPH, MA
Moving Toward Safer Outpatient Care:
CDC Releases Guide for Preventing Infections
Author: Melissa Schaefer, MD
Medical Officer in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
Copy this code for the "Outpatient Care Providers"
Button
Width: 170 pixels; Height: 257 pixels
- CDC Releases Infection Prevention Guide to Promote Safe Outpatient Care
- Outbreaks and Patient Notifications in Outpatient Settings
- Top CDC Recommendations to Prevent Healthcare-associated Infections
- CDC Feature: Having Surgery? What You Should Know Before You Go
- CDC Safe Healthcare Blog posting: Dr. Melissa Schaefer’s Inspecting Outpatient Surgery Centers – Lapses in Infection Prevention
- FAQs about Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) [PDF - 209 KB] SHEA/IDSA HAI Prevention Compendium
- Infection Control Assessment of Ambulatory Surgical Centers The Journal of the American Medical Association.
- Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) Guidelines
- Infection Control Audit Tool used by State Surveyors during Inspections of CMS-Certified Ambulatory Surgical Centers [PDF - 667 KB]
- Nonhospital Health Care–Associated Hepatitis B and C Virus Transmission: United States, 1998–2008.
- One and Only campaign
- Public Health Collaboration Models for Infection Prevention in Licensed Healthcare Settings A Focus on Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) – October 20, 2010 – Meeting Overview
- US Outbreak Investigations Highlight the Need for Safe Injection Practices and Basic Infection Control [PDF - 270 KB]
- CDC-CMS Infection Control Assessment of Ambulatory Surgical Centers
- What CDC and HHS are doing in Ambulatory Surgical Centers: HHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-associated Infections
Get email updates
To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address:
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348 - New Hours of Operation
8am-8pm ET/Monday-Friday
Closed Holidays - cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Join the conversation
