Best practice modeling initiative in an infection control program

BACKGROUND: Proper staffing of infection control departments has long been a topic of interest. The most complete report on the subject, the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control, was published in 1985. A survey of universityʹs health system members was undertaken in 2000 to obtain benchmarking information for staff. In order to participate in a best practice modeling initiative in the organization, a survey of U.S. News and World Reportʹs Best Hospitals was performed. The first component of the process was to gather comparative data as described here. The next step will be to perform additional research on practices for the best performing institutions, i.e., evaluation of surveillance practices, educational activities, etc. METHODS: A survey tool was developed to obtain general demographic and staffing information. An infection control professional (ICP) at each institution was contacted to obtain most of the information. Additional information was obtained from standard references. RESULTS: Results from 13 institutions (93%) were obtained. Full-time equivalent (FTE) ratios based on the following parameters were compared for the institutions: number of occupied beds (median = 137 occupied beds per FTE; range = 53-360), number of intensive care unit beds (median = 17 beds per FTE; range = 10-32), number of admissions or discharges (median = 6,503 admissions per FTE; range = 2559-14,659), number of ambulatory care visits (median = 134,661 visits per FTE; range = 31,883-361,928), and number of personnel (median = 1,437 staff per FTE; range = 683-3023). CONCLUSIONS: Many institutions are using benchmarking comparison data to make decisions regarding staff reductions. This survey provides preliminary data for determining the best practice in staffing for infection control departments. More information may be needed to evaluate other factors which affect the ICPʹs workload.