Infection Control
How do we dispose of hazardous waste?
Dispose of needles re-capper for one handed procedures.
Amalgam spill kit.
Chair side traps for amalgam.
Amalgam separator in mechanical room to catch Amalgam sucked up in water.
Amalgam solid waste container in sterilization room to dispose of solid Amalgam.
Who is responsible for patient education?
All staff according to their scope of practice.
All clinical staff members are responsible for patient and for documentation of the education provided in the medical/dental record.
Who is responsible for maintaining the equipment we use at Clinica?
Hospital Shared Services(an independent contractor) performs preventative maintenance on all medical and dental equipment.
Every piece of medical equipment is tagged with a sticker indicating the last date preventive maintenance was completed.
The COM/DOM maintains all maintenance records.
Maintenance occurs annually or as needed.
No new piece of equipment can be used before it has been tested and tagged by Hospital Shared Services.
How do I know that clinicians are qualified to care for patients at Clinica?
All clinicians who provide patient care at Clinica are required to apply and meet rigorous standards before they are credentialed to see patients. This process is completed as new clinicians are hired an repeated every two years.
All credentialing records are maintained in the Human Resources department.
Reference the privileges spreadsheet to identify which providers are approved to conduct specific procedures. The privileges spreadsheet is located at P:/Human Resources/Provider Information/Privileges
What is considered a medication?
Medications include: prescription medications , over -the-counter(OTC) medications, herbal products, sample drugs, vitamins, and IV solutions.
How do we monitor our quality of infection control?
We review and track the incidence of surgical infections.
We review and track of bloodborne exposures.
100% compliance with annual TB screening for all employees.
Incidence of new HIV diagnosis.
Where can you find patient education materials?
Nextgen
Operatories
Cabinets located in front of the glass window by the front desk, fax machine and printers.
Forms index on the Public Drive.
Up-to-Date available to providers.
How is equipment used and cleaned by Staff?
All equipment is used based on the manufacturer guidelines.
All equipment is cleaned based on manufacturer guidelines.
Who approves a providers credentialing?
Clinica Family Health's Board of Directors makes the determination with input from the Credentialing Committee (made up of at least one clinician)
No provider should be scheduled to performs a procedure if they are not signed off and approved to do that procedure.
Information on which procedures a provider can do can be found at: P:/Human Resources/Provider Information/Privileging/Privileges Spreadsheets.
Where are medications stored at Clinica?
In the pharmacy and pharmacy outlets.
Westminster and Lafayette locations: in the Medication Prep Rooms.
Locked in refrigerators or in overhead cupboards in the lab areas.
Food and drinks are not collocated with medications.
What precautions do you take to prevent infections in patients?
Hand washing or use of alcohol hand sanitizer gel.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Proper cleaning and sterilization of instruments.
Clean BP cuffs, laptop keyboards and stethoscopes with every patient using alcohol wipes.
Have patients and employees wear masks with any symptom of cough.
Requiring flu vaccines for all employees to reduce the spread of flu.
How to assist a patient who does not speak English or needs a Sign Language Interpreter?
Translation services sign is posted at every front desk to notify our patients that we use Language Line if they do not speak English/Spanish.
Each site is equipped with portable phone and information on how to contact the Language Line Service.
For our hearing impaired patients, staff are trained to contact our vendor Purple Communications.
Contact a DOM/COM or your supervisor if you need support with any translation above.
How do you learn to use new medical and dental equipment?
In services & trainings
Company representatives
Pamphlets and videos
Who is responsible for Quality Improvement (QI) at Clinica?
Everyone is responsible for continuous Quality Improvement.
Dr.Karen Funk leads our Quality Risk and Safety Committee.
We all look for ways to improve efficiency, outcomes, and the patient experience as well as reducing cost.
How do we protect our medications?
All medications are secured when not in use.
Daily temperature checks are done for all medications that are sensitive to temperature.
Staff are trained on how to react when medication storage temperatures go out of range.
What precautions are in place to prevent infections in employees?
Hand washing
Personal protective equipment PPE such as gloves , eye protection, aprons, gowns etc.
Hepatitis B vaccine for all employees.
Requiring flu vaccine for all employees.
Employee health screening (at hire annual TST screening)
Sharps protective devices.
Requesting any sick employee to use mask at work with cold/flu and stay home if possible.
Cleaning all re-usable medical devices between patients.
What two identifiers are used to assure you are working with the intended patient?
Patient name
DOB
Verbal verification of both by the patient or patient's guardian at the beginning of every visit.
What do you do if a piece of medical or dental equipment is broken?
Remove equipment from use
Place "out of order" sign on the broken equipment
Notify the DOM, DOT,COM,COT or OM
How do you make a suggestion improvement?
Any staff member can recommend or suggest a quality improvement activity by speaking with their supervisor or submitting the idea to the Quality, Risk and Safety (QRS)
Committee by using the "Staff Suggestion" link on the intranet.
How do you ensure you are giving medication to the correct patient?
Use two identifiers (name and DOB)
Check against the medication list or order in the medical record.
Involve the patient in process.
Medication labels.
When are operatories and counter tops cleaned in Dental?
Counters in labs are wiped as needed for spills.
Counters in radiation room on dirty side ware wiped once a day and barriers changed once a day (end of day). The clean side counters are wiped as needed for spills.
What do you do if you suspect abuse?
Each employee is an advocate for the pt and the alleged victim of abuse.
All medical, dental, BHP's and nurses are mandated reports of child and elder abuse, domestic violence, suicide, homicide risk and confidential care is reviewed.
The BHP's on the care team serve as content experts.
Who is he Dental Infection Control Officer?
Rachel Lynn
What is the standardized process that Clinica uses for Quality Improvement studies?
Clinica's standardized process is the "Model for Improvement" from IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement).This model includes using small tests of change by using a tool called PDSA cycles (Plan, Do, Study , Act)
Where can you find the "do not use" abbreviation list?
On the public drive in the Pharmacy folder.
Unapproved abbreviations should not be used in any documentation in the patient's medical record or prescriptions. They can lead to medication errors.