Clinic Settings

Outpatient Settings

Background

Walk-in clinics and doctor's offices provide medical care for patients. These facilities are not intended for overnight stay. Clinic settings include:

  • Ambulatory (same day) Surgery Centers
  • Dental Clinics
  • Dialysis Centers
  • Outpatient Clinics
  • Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinics

Special considerations for infection prevention in these settings

  • Infection prevention is a high priority in all settings, but each infection prevention program is different depending on type of facility, facility policies, and licensure and certification requirements.
  • Patients are key in stopping infections and spotting any that might come from outpatient care. It's important to know the signs of an infection and to call your healthcare provider if you notice any symptoms.
  • This is especially important for outpatient care. The signs of an infection might not show up until after the patient has left the facility.
  • CDC Interfacility Transfer Form - The patient transfer form helps make it easier to share information when patients are moved between different places for care. Hospitals and groups focused on making patient safety better can change and use this form to fit their needs.

VDH Infection Prevention and Control Assessments

Our team is available to conduct no cost, consultative, non-regulatory, and non-punitive onsite assessments for infection prevention and control (IPC) programs in Virginia.

Benefits of Collaborating with VDH for IPC Assessments:

  • The VDH Team can help strengthen your facility’s IPC program and activities
  • IPC Program improvements make your facility safer for patients and staff
  • VDH experts can answer your questions and provide education and training at no cost

What to Expect at your IPC Assessment: 

  • Before the in-person assessment, VDH will ask you some demographic questions to understand your facility better.
  • During the visit, VDH staff will tour your facility to learn and observe IPC practices.
  • After the visit, VDH staff will:
    • Provide a written summary of facility strengths and recommendations for IPC improvement
    • Offer follow-up discussion
    • Supply resources and education tailored to your needs

 

 

 

Educational Resources

Ambulatory Surgical Settings

Dental Settings

Dialysis Settings

Outpatient Settings

Outpatient Oncology Settings

 

Return to the Resources Hub to view all healthcare settings. 

Infections and organism webpages with resources specific to clinic settings:

 

Return to the Resources Hub to view all infections and organisms. 

 

Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance (HAI/AR) topic webpages with resources specific to clinic settings:

 

Return to the Resources Hub to view all HAI/AR topics. 

 

 

 

Data & Reporting

CMS Care Compare – a searchable database of Medicare-certified dialysis facilities. Allows users to compare facilities on a variety of quality measures and other facility characteristics.

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)

In October 2014, CMS began requiring ambulatory surgery centers participating in the Ambulatory Surgery Centers Quality Reporting program to report summary-level influenza vaccination data for all healthcare personnel via NHSN.

In January 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began requiring dialysis facilities participating in the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP) to report certain infection events to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), including positive blood culture, I.V. antimicrobial start, and signs of vascular access infection. In January 2015, CMS added summary-level healthcare personnel influenza vaccination coverage rates to the ESRD reporting requirements.

In February 2019, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 2425, which amended the Code of Virginia (§32.1-35.1) to expand statewide surveillance for HAIs to additional healthcare settings. Under this bill, outpatient hemodialysis facilities are required to share data with VDH as of July 1, 2019. Data required to be reported to NHSN to meet CMS requirements should be shared with VDH through the NHSN system. See Table 1 for measures that are part of the state reporting requirements for outpatient hemodialysis facilities. Note that the table lists the current reporting requirements. VDH reporting requirements will expand as CMS reporting requirements expand.

Table 1. HAI Reporting Requirements for Outpatient Hemodialysis Facilities in Virginia

CMS Reporting Program HAI Event Applicable Units Reporting Start Date
ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) Dialysis Event (includes positive blood culture, IV antimicrobial start, and signs of vascular access infection) Outpatient hemodialysis facilities January 2012

Resources related to reporting dialysis event data to NHSN from outpatient dialysis facilities: 

Dialysis facilities also report COVID-19 vaccination data to NHSN. COVID-19 vaccination reporting requirements for Virginia dialysis facilities are established by Quality Insights.  

Virginia Communicable Disease and Outbreak Reporting Requirements

State regulatory code aligns Virginia’s healthcare-associated infection reporting requirements with those required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Outpatient hemodialysis facilities report dialysis events (positive blood culture, IV antimicrobial start, and signs of vascular access infection) to VDH via CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).  

 

 

 

Regulatory Resources

 

 

 

Collaborations

Quality Insights Renal Network 5 – Medicare-funded organization responsible for improving the quality of care delivered to patients with end-stage renal disease in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia 

Last Updated: October 9, 2024