The U.S. Government Accountability Office recommends in a new report that the federal government conduct periodic, random surveys of ambulatory surgery centers to assess their compliance with infection control guidelines.
The report, which was requested by lawmakers in response to last year’s hepatitis outbreaks at two outpatient endoscopy clinics in Las Vegas, notes that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services currently doesn’t gather information on infection control practices at ASCs nationwide and recommends that the HHS secretary develop and implement a plan for collecting such data periodically. The GAO suggests that HHS base the plan on a CMS pilot study that used "a CDC-developed infection control assessment tool and direct observation by the surveyor of a single patient’s care from start to finish of the patient’s stay during the course of CMS’s standard surveys of selected ASCs."
Both CMS and the lawmakers who requested the report agreed with its recommendations. "The report being released highlights just how little we know about the prevalence of unsafe practices in outpatient care settings," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., in a statement. "While guidelines and standards exist, we lack the mechanisms to ensure they are being followed as required."
The full GAO report is available here.
—Irene Tsikitas
