APIC conference to focus on patient safety and 'Targeting Zero' initiatives to reduce HAIs

Medical errors expert to give keynote address

Washington, DC, May 9, 2008 – More than 4,000 infection prevention and control professionals from around the world are expected to convene at a five-day conference next month to discuss many of the major issues facing their profession today.

Strategies for infection prevention, best practices, the changing legal landscape of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and emerging multidrug-resistant bacteria are among the topics that will be covered at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC’s) 35th Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting, June 15-19 in Denver, CO. The meeting is the largest annual gathering of infection prevention and control professionals from around the world.

Noted patient safety expert and author of Internal Bleeding: The Truth Behind America’s Terrifying Epidemic of Medical Mistakes, Robert M. Wachter, MD, Professor and Associate Chairman of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, will deliver APIC’s keynote address. In his presentation, “What Can Infection Control and Patient Safety Learn from Each Other?,” Wachter will reflect on the integration of infection prevention into patient safety and discuss how the field of infection prevention and control can teach vital lessons to individuals and organizations striving to decrease medical errors.

Also featured will be APIC’s “Targeting Zero” campaign, a series of new educational initiatives promoting best practices and elimination strategies for Clostridium difficile-associated disease and infections that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are planning for reduced reimbursement should these infections occur during a hospital stay. Results of a recent survey of APIC members on the “Pace of Progress” of adoption of interventions to prevent MRSA will also be presented.

Additional highlights of the more than 75 topics on the week’s agenda include: